Nasobuco, Oliver Valdés' First Solo Album

January 17, 2022

Percussionist Oliver Valdés will present his first solo recording production to the public, titled Nasobuco, in a concert sponsored by the Centro Nacional de Música Popular, during the upcoming edition of the Festival Internacional Jazz Plaza.

The album will be presented on January 20 at 6:00 p.m., in the Covarrubias Hall of the Teatro Nacional de Cuba.

Although he has participated in countless recording productions by Cuban and foreign artists, and having recorded percussion material together with Rodney Barreto; Oliver Valdés did not have his own album in which to present all his musical ideas and references.

Nasobuco is the first summary of his work as a composer in recent years, entirely original and Cuban music; a summary of different ways of playing the drums, according to the genres and instruments that make up each format.

The album is the voice of an instrumentalist who seeks to showcase the legacy of his teachers and their impact on the sedimentation of his own style. Completed during the quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the name of the album is no coincidence.

On the album, Oliver Valdés brought together an important representation of jazz musicians from the contemporary Cuban scene, with a significant presence of musicians from his generation, such as Tony Rodríguez, Rolando Luna, Eme Alfonso, Yaroldy Abreu and Jamil Schery.

Also from preceding generations such as Gastón Joya, Jorge Aragón, Adonis Panter, Ramón Tamayo and Adonis Panter Jr., from his Interactivo bandmates, with whom he has grown as an artist, such as Roberto Carcassés, Julito Padrón, Juan Carlos Marín and Alejandro Delgado, and from great masters such as Carlos Alfonso and Ele Valdés, Germán Velazco, Jorge Reyes, Barbarito Torres, Yosvany Terry and Jorge Luis Valdés Chicoy.

The material consists of nine works based on the rhythm of his instrument, some of his own authorship, including his version of El Necio, by Silvio Rodríguez, whom he has been accompanying for almost 20 years; others such as Nasobuco and Maní, co-authored with Alejandro Delgado and Julio Padrón, respectively.

Recorded at Ojalá studios by Olimpia Calderón and mixed and mastered in Los Angeles by Cuban musician Jimmy Branly, the recording comes with a documentary music video of El Necio and with demonstrative material of the work process (EPK).

The album was produced by NuCubMusic Project, Oliver Valdés' project, and by Four Wives, with the support of the Centro Nacional de Música Popular and RTV Comercial.