Music

Chucho Valdés & the Afro-Cuban Messengers

Englert Theatre

Friday, February 10, 7:30 p.m.

The latest guests in Hancher Auditorium's Visiting Artists series are the renowned Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Messengers ensemble, who bring their exuberant Latin stylings to Iowa City's Englert Theatre on February 10. I should tell you, though, that if you visit Valdés' Web site (at ValdesChucho.com) wanting to learn more about the man yet don't know any languages beyond English, you may be slightly disconcerted by Valdés' biography, which begins: "Nacido en 1941, el pianista, compositor, profesor de música, arreglista y director de grupa inició su formación musical a temprana edad ... ."

But fear not! I've taken the trouble of running every phrase from the site through an online Spanish-to-English translator and have now learned everything you need to know about this artist whom All About Jazz calls "among the most accomplished jazz pianists from Cuba or anywhere else."