Chucho Valdes in the Running for Latin Grammys

The 2010 Latin Grammy double nomination for the album "El ultimo trago," by Concha Buika and Chucho Valdes, could add two more trophies to the Cuban pianist´s extensive collection.

A 14-time nominee and a 6-time winner of the Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, Valdes is a strong candidate in the categories of Best Traditional Tropical Album and Recording of the Year, for the Agustin Lara song, "Se me hizo fácil," de Agustín Lara.

In April 2009, Buika and Valdés got together in Abdala studios in Havana, convened by Spanish guitarist and producer Javier Limon, to pay tribute to the legendary singer Chavela Vargas on her 90th birthday.

Blessed by their African ancestors, the pianist and the singer, who since her recording debut in 2005 has revolutionized song and jazz in Spain, contributed the emotion, the heartbreak of unrequited love, and the aroma of rum, of the Chavela spirit.

The authors selected were another motivation: Rosario Sansores and Carlos Brito, José Alfredo Jiménez, Juan Zaizar, Álvaro Carrillo, Agustín Lara, Armando Tejada Gómez y César Isella, Mario Clavel and Enrique Fábregat.

Valdes wrote arrangements in which flamenco, ranchera, bolero and cha cha cha brought together earthy roots, and with his piano reaffirmed once again his class of universal artist.

To top it all off, Cuban visual artist Eduardo Roca (Choco) provided a painting for the album art, making El ultimo trago an unforgettable gift.

Chucho Valdés was born in Havana on October 9, 1941 and won his first Grammy in 1979 for the album "Irakere," the name of the band he founded in 1973 and led until it split up. Together with his father Bebo, Valdes won the Latin Grammy for Jazz in 2009 for the album "Juntos para siempre”.