Manuel Valera New Cuban Express
About This Event
Pianist and composer Manuel Valera brings his New Cuban Express to Smalls Jazz Club. Valera's writing treats rhythm as a structural device, and the group's use of montuno patterns and tight syncopation favors architectural interplay over solo display. The lineup features Valera with his New Cuban Express in a program rooted in Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz.
About the Artists
Manuel Valera
Manuel Valera is a Cuban pianist and composer based in New York City, heard in settings that range from small-group jazz to Afro-Cuban projects. In NYC he appears at venues including The Django, Smalls Jazz Club, and Bar Bayeux, where he has worked alongside artists such as Duduka Da Fonseca, Vinicius Gomes, and Eduardo Belo.
New Cuban Express
New Cuban Express is a jazz group heard most often in the language of latin jazz and Afro-Cuban jazz. In New York City they appear at Smalls Jazz Club, where their set lists frequently center on the project “Manuel Valera New Cuban Express” and their work with pianist and composer Manuel Valera.