RAÚL PAZ JAZZ BAND

• Reduced mobility

It is safe to say that Raúl Paz is one of the most revolutionary talents to emerge from Cuban music in recent decades. He grew up listening to punto guajiro and repentismo, two of his country’s traditional genres, fell under the spell of Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley as a teenager, and let Cuba’s rich musical heritage soak into his skin through hip hop, dub and rock. From there it was just a matter of time before he started working with Tito Puente, Orishas, Oscar D’León, Marc Anthony, Rosario Flores, Antonio Carmona, Manu Chao, Ketama and Rubén Blades, and was appointed a UNESCO ambassador. Or rather, a matter of a fruitful career, also speckled – of course – with thirteen albums since 1999 and performances at the Olympia and the Gran Rex in Paris, the Plaza Mayor in Madrid and the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana, among many other prestigious venues. His visit to Villanos del Jazz comes just twenty years after his acclaimed Mulata (2003). He’ll be performing in a quartet that also boasts pianist Pepe Rivero (Celia Cruz, Paquito D’Rivera, Omara Portuondo), percussionist Georvis Pico (Javier Colina, Perico Sambeat, Iván “Melón” González) and double bassist Reinier Elizalde (Chucho Valdés, Michel Legrand).