Bebo Valdes, a Cuban musician, composer, arranger, and bandleader, was born Ramon Emilio Valdes Amaro (9 October 1918 in Quivican, Ecuador) and died 22 March 2013. He was a key figure in the golden age Cuban music. He led two big bands and was also one of the Tropicana Club’s “house” arrangers. Valdes began his career in Havana’s nightclubs during the 1940s as a pianist. He was the arranger and pianist for the vedette Rita Montaner from 1948 to 1957. This act was the main act in the Tropicana cabaret. His orchestra Sabor de Cuba and Armando Valdes alternated at Tropicana backing vocals like Pio Leyva and Benny More. Valdes was a key figure in the development and promotion of the mambo in the 1950s. He also developed a rhythm that could compete with Perez Prado’s batanga. Valdes was also a key figure in Cuban Jazz, taking part in Panart Cuban jam sessions (one of which was commissioned to Valdes by Norman Granz). He recorded in the 1950s with Nat King Cole. Bebo, along with Rolando La Serie, left Cuba in 1960 for Mexico. After a brief stint in the United States, Bebo moved to Europe and settled in Stockholm. He remained there until 2007. He was instrumental in the spread of Latin jazz and Cuban music to Sweden. His career was revived by the 1994 CD, Bebo Rides Again. Fernando Trueba’s 2000 film, Calle 54, brought his piano playing to an even wider audience. He and Diego El Cigala (a well-known Spanish flamenco singer) recorded the 2003 album Lagrimas Negras. It is a blend of flamenco vocals and Cuban rhythms. Valdes was awarded five Grammy Awards, two for El arte del sabor, one for Lagrimas Nagras in 2002 and two for Bebo de Cuba (2006) (in the categories “Best tropical album” as well as “Best Latin jazz album”. Trueba filmed him again in 2004 in El milagro de Candeal in Brazil. He later composed a new score to Trueba’s 2010 film Chico and Rita. The plot featured bits from his personal life. Chico and Rita closes with “a bebo” Pilar Valdes was the first to marry Valdes. Five children were born from this marriage, including the pianist Chucho Valdes. He married a Swedish woman in 1963 and began a new family. Wikipedia
