By Paul Rauch
Kiki Valera y su Son Cubano’s Earshot Jazz Festival performance at Town Hall was a great evening for both listeners and dancers alike. On the heels of his new release on Origin Records, Valera led his band through the music of Vivencias en Clave Cubana (Origin, 2019) with virtuosic precision and infectious pulse.
Jazz fans may question why a performer of traditional Cuban Son music would be considered for a jazz award, much less record for a well-regarded jazz label such as Seattle based Origin. Valera took advantage of his performance in the Great Hall to provide the answer. One of the world’s renowned practitioners of the Cuban cuatro, he improvises with the wisdom and melodic vision of a great post-bop adventurer, all the while never straying from the striations of form he has carried forward from his heralded musical family—la familia Valera Miranda.
The Great Hall was indeed lit up, with the band’s call and response vocals, and infectious rhythms inspiring a legion of enthusiastic dancers near the stage. Valera’s award, along with the two received by Barcelona born Marina Albero, highlights the good fortune of our city to call these international stars our own. Along with Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto, a past multi-Golden Ear recipient, this once remote cultural outpost and its vibrant and historic jazz scene now sports a wide and international scope.