Chucho Valdes: piano
Julian Valdes: percussion
Joseph A. Gola: electric and acoustic bass
Horacio Hernandez: battery
Roberto Jr. Vizcaino Torre: percussion
Eddie de Armas Jr.: trumpet
Osvaldo Fleites: trumpet
Luis Beltran: saxophone
Carlos Averhoff Jr.: saxophone
Ramon Alvarez: vocalist
'Irakere 50' is a tribute by Chucho Valdés to the Cuban band that marked a before and after in Latin jazz, for his masterful fusion of Afro-Cuban ritual music, with Cuban popular music, the Jazz, rock and classical music. In 1975, 'Irakere' became an independent group and remained active until 2005. However, The discovery of 'Irakere' began in 1977, (almost two decades before Buena Vista Social Club), with the first official visit of Americans to Cuba, since the Missile Crisis, who arrived on a jazz cruise carrying musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and young Ry Cooder. In Havana they were able to listen to the group and were amazed by their compositions and the virtuosity of their musicians.. That's when Bruce Lundvall, president of CBS Records, He had news of 'Irakere' and, A few months later, He traveled to Cuba to hear them in person. At this audition he was so impressed that he immediately hired them and made arrangements to take them to the Newport Jazz Festival., In New York. Was the 28 June 1978 when, included in the program and without prior announcement, Chucho Valdés and 'Irakere' closed the evening at Carnegie Hall and burst onto the world stage. A few months later, an album titled 'Irakere,' which included a selection from the concert in New York and a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Recording.
