Latin jazz group to perform Saturday at Quick Center

Fairfield University will present a performance by Latin jazz group Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Messengers at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4, at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 North Benson Road.

Winner of five Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, Dionisio Jesús "Chucho" Valdés Rodríguez, born in Quivicán, Cuba, in 1941, is one of Cuba's most famous pianists, bandleaders, composers and arrangers, according to a university news release. He began his music training with his father, famed pianist Bebo Valdés, when he was 3 years old and is perhaps best known for founding the Latin jazz band Irakere in 1973, the release states.

The Afro-Cuban Messengers touring band, founded in 2009, includes Mayra Caridad Valdés on vocals; Lázaro Rivero Alarcón on bass; Juan Carlos Rojas Castro on drums; Yaroldy Abreu Robles on percussion; Dreiser Durruthy Bambolé on bata drum and vocals; Carlos Manuel Miyares Hernandez on tenor sax; and Reinaldo Melián Álvarez on trumpet.

The Quick Center concert is part of a national tour that marks Valdes' return to the United States for the first time in seven years. Over the past three decades, he has earned eight Grammy Awards and 16 nominations, the release states.

Valdés has recorded over 80 CDs and performed with many well-known jazz performers, including Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea.

Tickets, at $40, $35, and $30. are available through the Quick Center box office at 203-254-4010 or online at www.quickcenter.com.