The Valdés legacy returns to Carnegie

It was 34 years ago that Carnegie Hall became the setting for an emotional family reunion: Bebo Valdés, the pianist who had fled Cuba in the 1960s, was getting back together with his son Chucho, a legendary pianist in his own right who chose to stay behind. The event went beyond the music itself: it sought to close old wounds that many Cuban families today can still relate to.

On Saturday, Chucho Valdés - who had not returned to Carnegie Hall since that historical day - was back on stage wearing an elegant suit of blue velvet and an enormous smile on his face. His appearance triggered a long ovation in an audience filled with Cubans and fans of Latin jazz. Valdés and his new band, The Afro-Cuban Messengers, had a special guest star who caused almost as much furor as Chucho himself: Concha Buika, the African-Spanish singer who performed a few numbers in her first Carnegie Hall appearance.

Valdés, 70, opened the concert by experimenting with the music of one of his idols, Duke Ellington, whose classics he jazzed up with an Afro-Latin touch. His band - with whom he won last year's Grammy award for Best Latin Jazz Album with Chucho's steps - came on stage and filled the air with the frantic beats of its two percussionists, drummer, bass, trumpet player and sax.

And then it was Buika's turn to take the stage. Standing barefoot, she performed just two songs but that was enough to rouse the audience, which did not take well to her departure and began clamoring for her return. A surprised Chucho felt obliged to intervene: "Don't worry, she'll be back," he said, then launched into a virtuoso, solo blues performance that underscored the fact that this was, above all, his concert.

Buika, whose family hails from Equatorial Guinea, returned for the encore and sang El andariego. Afterwards, a satisfied Valdés greeted well-wishers and said: "It had been 34 years since I had played here. I expect I am the same person, but with more experience, more work behind me and, I hope, a better musician."