Jesus “Chuchito” Valdes, Jr. was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. He is the third generation of a Cuban jazz piano family that also includes his grandfather, Bebo Valdes, as well as his father, Chucho Valdes. Valdes, the oldest of five siblings was a child prodigy who attended and graduated from La Escuela de Musica Ignacio Cervantes. At 16 years old, he worked with Bobby Carcasses (Cuban singer and trumpeter) and for a while accompanied Anibel Lopez and Pello El Africankan. Valdes was part of the Cuban jazz group Sonido Contemporaneo in the mid-80s. By the late ’90s, he had taken over his father’s place in the famed Irakere band after the elder Valdes decided to go solo. Chuchito eventually followed his lead and started his own band, touring with his fiery Afro-Cuban style of jazz. Encantado was his debut album. It was released in 2002 by Town Crier Records. He followed it up with La Timba 2002 and Herencia 2004 both on J
