NJPAC Presents CHUCHO VALDÉS And The AFRO-CUBAN MESSENGERS

Chucho Valdés returns to NJPAC's Prudential Hall for the first time since 2003 on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 3pm with the Afro-Cuban Messengers, the band with which he recorded his latest Grammy-winning CD. Japanese jazz/pop pianist Hiromi and her Trio Project featuring Anthony Jackson and Simon Philips share the bill in an afternoon concert that spans genres and continents. The performance is part of NJPAC's Wells Fargo Jazz Series and is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Discover Jersey Arts.

Tickets are $29-$80 and are available by telephone at 1-888-466-5722, at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark, and at www.njpac.org. To purchase tickets for groups of 10 or more, call 973-297-5804.

About the Artists:
Chucho Valdés, a pianist, composer, arranger, band leader and music professor, has recorded over 80 CDs, has won five Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, and has performed solo and with his band across the world. He was born in Havana, Cuba in 1941 to a muscial family- his mother, Pilar Rodriguez, was a singer and piano teacher, his father, the great band leader and pianist Bebo Valdés. Valdés formed his fitst band at the age of 15 and in 1973 formed the Cuban genre-defining band Irakere. With its blend of jazz, rock, traditonal Cuban music and classical, the band had a major influence on Cuban music that can still be heard today. In 2009 Valdés formed Chucho Valdés & the Afro-Cuban Messenger. The group tours internationally and recorded Valdes' most recent Grammy-winning release, "Chucho's Steps," in 2011.

Japanese pianist and composer Hiromi started playing the piano when she was six years old and while still a teenager played with the Czech Philharmonic and Chick Corea. She is a Berklee College of Music graduate who has performed with Corea, Ahmad Jamal and Stanley Clarke. She made her debut in 2003 with Another Mind (Telarc), which won the Recording Industry Association of Japan's "Jazz Album of the Year" award and sold over 100,000 copies. In June of this year, she released Voice on the Concord Music Group label with her Trio Project – bassist Anthony Jackson (Paul Simon, The O'Jays, Steely Dan, Chick Corea) and drummer Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who, Judas Priest, David Gilmour, Jack Bruce). Her Trio Project collaborators join her for this performance.

Calendar Listing:
New Jersey Performing Arts Center presents
Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Messengers with
Hiromi: The Trio Project featuring Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 3:00pm
NJPAC's Prudential Hall
1 Center Street, Newark, NJ 07102

Cuban jazz legend Chucho Valdés returns to NJPAC's Prudential Hall on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 3pm with the Afro-Cuban Messengers, the band with which he recorded his latest Grammy-winning CD. Japanese jazz/pop pianist Hiromi and her current Trio Project collaborators Anthony Jackson and Simon Philips share the bill with Valdés in an afternoon concert that spans genres and continents.

Tickets: $29-$80
Available at www.njpac.org, 1-888-466-5722 or at the box office at 1 Center Street, Newark, NJ

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New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is the sixth largest performing arts center in the United States. As New Jersey's Town Square, NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the State's and the world's best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted over 6 million visitors (more than one million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents. Visit www.njpac.org for more information.

Programming has been made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

NJPAC is a wheelchair accessible facility and provides assistive services for patrons with disabilities. For more information, call 888-GO-NJPAC.

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