Caribbean/Cuban Music & Dance Party at Paddington Town Hall
Paddington Town Hall transforms into a Caribbean style nightclub on Friday 1 November as Cuban superstar Elio Villafranca leads an all-star band along with Adrian Medina and his dynamic dance ensemble with DJ El Cubano.
New York-based Cuban pianist and dual Grammy nominee Elio Villafranca makes a most welcome return to Australia for two very special shows performing works from his latest album ‘Standing at the Crossroads’. Elio will be joined by a group of Australia’s leading jazz and Latin musicians for a Caribbean style dance party at Sydney’s Paddington Town Hall and an exclusive Melbourne date at JazzLab.
Born in the Pinar del Río province of Western Cuba, Villafranca was classically trained in percussion and composition at the prestigious Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba. In 1995 he relocated to the U.S where he has worked extensively in the jazz and Latin jazz scenes. In the wake of early innovators such as Mario Bauza and Machito and later Chuchos Valdes, Villafranca is at the forefront of the latest generation of remarkable Cuban pianists and composers making major creative contributions to the international development of Cuban jazz.
Since his debut album “Incantations/Encantaciones” ranked amongst the Top 50 albums of 2003 (JazzTimes), the Steinway artist and duel Grammy nominee has received a multitude of accolades including Jazz Corner’s Pianist of the Year (2008), BMI Jazz Guaranty Award (2008) and the NFA/Heineken Green Ribbon Master Artist Music Grant (2008), Downbeat Critics’ Poll Rising Stars Keyboard (2018), the Sunshine Award, the first Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennium Swing! Award and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient(2021). In 2010 he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Album (2010) and in 2014 received the Millennium Swing Award at Jazz at the Lincoln Centre.
In 2017 he was among five pianists chosen by Chick Corea to perform at the first Chick Corea Jazz Festival, also receiving the Sunshine Award which recognises excellence in the performing arts, education, science, and sports of the various Caribbean countries, South America, Central America, and Africa and is a Guggenheim recipient (2021).
His new album Standing by the Crossroads is part of a trilogy (CINQUE – Standing by the Crossroads – Don’t Change My Name] that speaks about Villafranca’s life experiences as an artist in Cuba and in New York. This seminal work showcases the role of Congolese music and ritual in the development of Cuban music. Downbeat Magazine named ‘Standing by the Crossroads’ as one of the top Afro-Latin jazz releases of 2023.
Elio Villafranca & The East Coast Latin Ensemble will be at Paddington Town Hall 1 November and JazzLab 2 November.
Elio Villafranca Caribbean Dance Party, Image credit Elio Villafranca