Word: pianists
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Past midnight now, and Jesus arrives. Jesus ("Chucho") Valdes is the greatest jazz pianist in Cuba, perhaps one of the greatest pianists in the world. He's a tall man, 5 in. north of 6 ft., and wide-bodied. He is casually dressed tonight, clad in an untucked purple shirt, jeans and Fila sneakers. He has played in the U.S. before, but this month he is embarking on his first sizable Stateside tour, one of the most extensive by any Cuban performer since the embargo began in 1962. Valdes has a new solo CD to promote, Bele Bele...
...weeks, Valdes plans stops in Philadelphia, Washington, Los Angeles and St. Paul, Minn. Earlier this year, La Charanga Habanera, a hard salsa act that is considered one of Havana's hottest bands, played its first-ever show in the U.S., at a festival outside Boston. Three years ago, pianist Ruben Gonzales, 79, considered himself retired and didn't even own a piano. This summer he has a solo album out (the smoothly accomplished Introducing...Ruben Gonzales on Nonesuch), and in October and November he will be touring the States. Other Cuban acts, including the dance band...
Franklin is not simply the Queen of Soul; she holds royalty status in the fields of gospel, blues, rock and pop as well. She is a sharp, rhythmically fierce pianist. And though she wrote a number of her hits, including the sexually brazen Dr. Feelgood, she also displayed brilliance in making other people's compositions her own, such as Curtis Mayfield's pop gem Something He Can Feel. Or listen to her 1971 gospel-charged take on the Simon and Garfunkel classic Bridge over Troubled Water. That water's a good deal more troubled when Franklin sings the song; even...
DIED. DOROTHY DONEGAN, 76, exuberant jazz pianist; reportedly of colon cancer; in Los Angeles. A flamboyant performer, Donegan was known as much for her jokes and gyrations as for her music (a patchwork of swing, pop, ragtime, boogie-woogie and classical...
...mother once told me that she wasn't afraid to die, that she had accomplished everything as planned. My mother was not only a physican, but also a writer, pianist, runner and singer. What she achieved in her life exceeded most people's dreams...