Chucho Valdés delights audience at A Creole Christmas Gift

Pianist Chucho Valdés led his Royal Quartet, including fellow Cubans, bassist José Armando Gola, percussionist Roberto Junior Vizcaíno Torre and drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernández, to a standing ovation from an appreciative and mesmerised audience at the Lord Kitchener Auditorium, National Academy for the Performing Arts, (NAPA), Port of Spain.

A Creole Christmas Gift: Concert and Cocktails starring the Cuban music legend, Valdés, and globe-trotting Trinidadian musician Etienne Charles which was held on December 16 ended with a tangible celebration, and sustained shouts of “bravo, bravo” rang from the upper balconies down to the orchestra seats, a media release said.

The celebration continued post-concert in the packed lobby where the MITTCO Steelband played for hundreds of patrons. Fine wines, premium spirits, cocktails, and local cuisine attuned to a local holiday theme complimented the mix-and-mingle conclusion of the event which received high praise from patrons, the release said.

It was an evening of music: a parang band serenaded arriving patrons, building anticipation and foreshadowing what a local holiday celebration can sound like.

Charles and his Creole Soul band with special guests bassist David "Happy" Williams, pan virtuoso Robert Greenidge, singer Vaughnette Bigford and the sublime Jorge Glem on cuatro, reminded patrons of the depth of the local canon with interpretations of the tunes of Lionel Belasco, Lennox Gray, Lord Kitchener, and more.

Charles noted in an earlier interview before the concert, with reference to Valdés, that, “we as a people need to be exposed to this level of artistry without having to buy a plane ticket."

The event delivered just that with Cuban jazz and mambo, Mozart A La Cubana, a gentle medley of Latin music favourites, spirited engagements with Charles and Glem, technical mastery of the piano and more, were all presented magnificently by Valdés, reinforcing his stature as a Caribbean music icon, the release said.

Parang, pan, kaiso, Caribbean jazz were presented and expanded the audience that is both hip to local traditions and willing to discover the new.

A Creole Christmas Gift: Concert and Cocktails was HADCO Experiences’ first event as a premium producer. The creation of unique experiences is part of the company's business model. Co-CEO John Hadad spoke onstage at the beginning of the concert to reinforce the mission of the company, which is about bringing a Caribbean-type experience and “marrying in with our authentically Trinbagonian heritage and culture,” the release said

Hadad also noted the positive alliances with the local corporate community in supporting the event via brand partnerships, and thanked the Embassy of Spain for assuring Valdés’ presence in Trinidad. Spanish ambassador Fernando Nogales was present onstage too, and looked forward to continued collaboration.

HADCO continues to support culture with its sponsorship of HADCO Phase II Pan Groove, and its premier support of MITTCO pan manufacturing.