Review: At Ravinia Festival, ‘Irakere 50' is a joyous musical reunion

Chicago Tribune

10-07-2025

The thing about the Martin Theatre is there's not quite enough room to dance.
That didn't stop audiences from trying anyway on Wednesday, when Irakere, the storied Cuban band, visited Ravinia for its ongoing 50-year anniversary celebrations. It was a dance-worthy occasion, times three, with original Irakere members Chucho Valdés, Arturo Sandoval and Paquito d'Rivera — now all Latin jazz titans in their own rights — reunited onstage.
But this was no mere nostalgic retrospective. An exciting two-hour set posited that Irakere was celebrating not just five decades but a boundless future, assured by up-and-coming Cuban talent.
Halfway through the set, singer Emilio Frías, aka 'El Niño' — a star on the Cuban music scene as the bandleader of the orchestra 'El Niño y la Verdad' — joined the group to supercharge standards like 'Ilya' and 'Por romper el coco.' The band's rhythm section was sourced from Valdés's recent Royal Quartet with bassist José Armando Gola, drummer Horacio 'El negro' Hernández and percussionist Roberto Jr. Vizcaíno; Valdés' son Julian, who sometimes interprets his father's interviews with English media, joined Vizcaíno on batá. Bridging past and present, Carlos Averhoff Jr., the son of late Irakere saxophonist Carlos Averhoff Sr., held down tenor sax.
Valdés, leading them from behind the keys, turns 84 later this year. But age hasn't dimmed his dexterity and power one iota, bursting forth early on with a crawly, chromatic starring role in 'Congadanza.' Later, a balladic intro to 'Estela va a estallar' sparked into an uptempo dance rhythm, into which alto saxophonist Luis Beltran promptly snuck a reference to 'Careless Whisper.'
Often, Irakere's musical references were more than passing. D'Rivera blues-ified the second movement of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (previously recorded as 'Adagio on a Mozart Theme'), played on soprano sax. D'Rivera's cheeky cadenza tested the audience's Mozart cred, inviting them to call-and-response along to 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' and 'Rondo alla Turca.'
For his turn, Sandoval kept the audience on its toes by not just playing but singing a husky, mellow rendition of 'When I Fall in Love,' accompanied by Valdés on piano. In the middle of the tune, he provided his own instrumental interlude on trumpet, playing his custom, rich-toned red trumpet.
Most touching were the moments of partnership between not just the three veteran maestros but the band. Sandoval and d'Rivera huddled around a single microphone for a charming 'Blue Monk,' backed by Valdés, Gola and Hernández. But when they weren't up front and center — which was most of the show — the two eminences melted into the bands' horn section, swaying along with their compatriots. On more than one occasion, Sandoval's eyes popped appreciatively at the athletic chops of young trumpeter Thommy Lowry, who traded bars with Osvaldo Fleites in a mid-program medley.
The only damper on this festive evening was the venue. Irakere's concert was meant to take place in the Pavilion, only to be moved to the more intimate Martin Theatre ahead of the performance. During Wednesday's show, however, that change proved unconvincing. The Martin, more often utilized for unamplified concerts, was at times overpoweringly loud, with an acoustic that tended to muddle speech and singing in particular. Then, of course, there's that dancing issue. With tight seats, narrow aisles, and a general expectation to remain seated, any possibility of getting on one's feet, except at the very end of the evening, went out the window.
That is, unless you were a member of the band. Rather than do a traditional encore, Irakere briefly reprised their final number, seamlessly melding 'Lo que va a pasar' and, of course, 'Bacalao con pan,' the song that launched their career. One by one, musicians picked up the tune during their bows, keeping it going even as they boogied offstage. Long may Irakere dance.