Grammy-winning music legends make up for lost time with a reunion more than 40 years in the making

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County (@arshtcenter) is presenting Grammy-winning Cuban jazz legends CHUCHO VALDÉS (@chuchovaldesmusic) and PAQUITO D’RIVERA (@paquitodrivera), live in concert for one night only on June 18, 2022.  The history of the close friendship and shared musical adventures between Valdés and D’Rivera goes back 60 years – but in recent decades, their paths rarely crossed. Chucho and Paquito are now making up for lost time with a new album, I Missed You Too, and a world tour. 

In this reunion concert, Chucho and Paquito are accompanied by an extraordinary ensemble that includes Diego Urcola on trumpet and valve trombone, Armando Gola on contrabass and electric bass, Dafnis Prieto on drums, and Roberto Jr. Vizcaino on percussion. The evening includes old hits, some of them already Latin Jazz standards, classics of the Latin-American repertoire and new compositions.

“I’m very proud of this reunion,” said D’Rivera. “Chucho is part of my life. His father was very close friends with my father. Our friendship is something that goes back a long way. The first song Chucho wrote that became famous was called ‘Indestructible.’ That’s our relationship: indestructible.”

“I’ve missed him,” said Valdés. “Paquito is part of my life. I played with his father, Tito, a great saxophonist, before I played with him. Paquito is family and he’s very important to me musically. There are many great musicians, but Paquito is unique.”

For almost 60 years, CHUCHO VALDÉS AND PAQUITO D’RIVERA have been widely recognized as distinguished players and composers in the world of Afro-Cuban music, jazz, classical and many other diverse musical styles. From their youth, Chucho and Paquito cultivated a solid friendship inherited from their fathers Bebo and Tito, prominent musicians in the dynamic artistic life of the dazzling Havana of the 1940s and 1950s. Both trained in the academic classical music tradition and were quickly also attracted to great improvisers such as Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz stars. Together, they developed most of their talents in the Musical Theater of Havana and in the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, which D’Rivera conducted for 2 years, until 1973 when Chucho invited his inseparable friend to participate in the founding of Irakere, one of the most transcendental groups of the whole musical history of Cuba. Separately, they have amassed more than 25 Grammys and Latin Grammys, among many other prominent distinctions.

Tickets for CHUCHO VALDÉS AND PAQUITO D’RIVERA are $45, $55, $75 and $125* and may be purchased at the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at arshtcenter.org.

The 2021-2022 Live at Knight series is generously supported by presenting sponsor Spirit Airlines. EPIC Hotel, Bacardi and Café Bustelo are supporting sponsors.