Bebo Valdés
Dionisio Ramón Emilio Valdés Amaro (October 9, 1918 – March 22, 2013), better known as Bebo Valdés, was a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, especially due to his big band arrangements and compositions of mambo, chachachá and batanga, a genre he created in 1952.
Bebo Valdés | |
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Bebo Valdés in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dionisio Ramón Emilio Valdés Amaro |
| Born | October 9, 1918 Quivicán, Cuba |
| Origin | Havana, Cuba |
| Died | March 22, 2013 (aged 94) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres | Afro-Cuban jazz, batanga, mambo, son cubano, bolero, guaracha |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, composer, arranger |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Labels | Mercury, Decca, Panart, Gema, Blue Note, BMG |
He was the director of the Radio Mil Diez house band and the Tropicana Club orchestra, before forming his own big band, Orquesta Sabor de Cuba, in 1957. However, after the end of the Cuban Revolution, in 1960, Bebo left his family behind and went into exile in Mexico before settling in Sweden, where he remarried. His musical hiatus lasted until 1994, when a collaboration with Paquito D'Rivera brought him back into the music business.
By the time of his death in 2013, he had recorded several new albums, earning multiple Grammy Awards. His son Chucho Valdés is also a successful pianist and bandleader.