Kiki Valera
2022 Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Award
Established in 1990 for excellence in ethnic performance and leadership in the community in the traditional cultural arts. It is named for a musician and documentarian, who devoted four decades to the study, performance and promotion of Nordic traditional music and dance. The Gordon Ekvall Tracie Music Library is located in the National Nordic Museum of Seattle.
Kiki Valera was born into a family of musicians going back to his great-great grandparents, who meticulously passed on through the generations the “Son” tradition of Cuban music. "Son" is the acoustic roots music that developed in eastern Cuba, where Kiki was born and raised and is the root of modern salsa music.
Kiki studied at the Conservatorio Esteban Salas in Santiago, toured with his famous family, La Familia Valera Miranda, and operated one of the most sought after studios in Santiago. He moved to Seattle in 2013, the year his family were artists-in-residence for the renowned Earshot Jazz Festival. In less than a decade Valera has assured the Northwest that some of the most tantalizing music of the world is here to stay in Seattle, through his performances in concerts, nightclubs, schools, benefit events and every kind of celebration. He is popular on radio shows and on music albums and as a podcast guest.
Kiki received a 4Culture grant in 2018 in which he placed his own compositions into the legacy of “Son” music, releasing “Viviencias en Clave Cubana” (Origin Records) at the 2019 Earshot Jazz Festival in Town Hall. In February 2022 he performed at Town Hall Seattle as part of Earshot’s Global Rhythms series. He was one of three artists chosen to create the live production Movement with Meklit Hedero, internationally acclaimed and Seattle-born Ethiopian American singer-composer. The production, in which the four performers told their migration stories, had its world premier at Meany Hall in May 2022. In July 2022, he was awarded his second 4Culture grant to complete his new album cuaTROmpeta.
As one of the world’s leading Cuban cuatro players, Kiki has conducted master classes at Cornish College of the Arts, University of Washington, and University of Puget Sound. He directs his local group Kiki Valera y su Son Cubano and has also played with Sonriente, Trovadoro, Mambo Cadillac, Trio Cubay, Clave Gringa and the Savani Latin Jazz Quartet. He was musical director for the large-scale Cuban music retrospective “Soy Cuba” which debuted at the Triple Door in Seattle.
John Gilbreath, Executive Director of Earshot Jazz says, “Kiki Valera brings a purity of cultural expression that is as close to the source as one could find.” Ruth Hunter and Christos Govetas of Dromeno, performers of Balkan music, nominated Kiki for this award and themselves won it in 2017. They love the ambience at Kiki’s performances in smaller venues, where guests mingle and make new friends. “Kiki Valera is more than a musician, he is also the heart of a community. It feels like a family picnic and everyone is invited.” Kiki can be reached at Valera.kiki@gmail.com.