(artículo) The raw and the elegant

The stars of an unlikely but inspired blending of flamenco and Afro-Cuban jazz talk to Mark Hudson

'When I saw him playing in the film Calle 54, I fell in love with him on the spot," says Diego "El Cigala" of veteran Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes. "I love everything about him – his personality, his attitude to life and most of all his music."

Old rhythms: El Cigala (left) and Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes

They certainly make an intriguing couple, the thirtysomething flamenco star with the looks of a bandit messiah and the 85-year-old Afro-Cuban jazz master. But their album Lagrimas Negras ("Black Tears"), which unites the former's majestic hoarseness and the latter's superbly elegant phrasing over nine exquisite ballads, is without doubt one of the CDs of the year.

(leer +) [vía Arts Telegraph.co.uk]