I missed you too! (“I also missed you!”) is the album that marks the musical reunion, four decades later, of the pianist Chucho Valdés with the saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera. The relationship between these two Cuban jazz stars dates back to 1962, when D'Rivera was invited to listen to Valdés at a local club in his neighborhood of Marianao in southern Havana. To coincide later as members of the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music and in the Quintet of the Cuban Orchestra.
Already in 1973, they founded Irakere, the flagship formation of Cuban jazz, until their paths separated in 1980 when D'Rivera left the island and moved to New York.
In a packed Palau de la Música, which had a gala atmosphere, the reunion between these two titans of Latin jazz was celebrated. Before the concert began, the gold medal of the Barcelona jazz festival was awarded to Paquito D'Rivera by the director of the competition, Tito Ramoneda. The saxophonist and clarinetist thanked the award with his usual sympathy and acted as master of ceremonies during a concert in which they showed at all times an extraordinary connection with an audience that thoroughly enjoyed their musical delights.
The session began with two pieces by Chucho Valdés, an influenced Mambo and a fantastic Lorena's tango, where tango, jazz and Cuban music intersect, adorned with brilliant solos by D'Rivera on sax, as well as an explosive Diego Urcola. to the trumpet After I missed you too!, the song that gives the album its name, the sextet tackled Paq-man (the nickname D'Rivera is known by in Cuba), an interesting song by Hilario Durán that featured great drummer Dafnis Prieto its main soloist.
Among the most original songs of the night, and where Chucho Valdés' enormous worth as a composer became evident, it is worth mentioning an extensive Cuban-style Mozart seasoned with some somewhat circus-like jokes by D'Rivera and an exciting percussion solo much celebrated by the public by Roberto Vizcaíno. For his part, D'Rivera made clear his mastery as a clarinetist in a beautiful Venezuelan joropo, La fleur de la cayenne. To crown, before the obligatory encores, this happy reunion between the two giants of Cuban jazz with Claudia, a beautiful bolero by Valdés that dazzled the audience, and a lively El majá by Vento.
