Flutist and Composer Maraca Orlando Valle represents the new generation of cuban musicians, equally versed in jazz and indigenous Cuban styles.

Born to a musical family ( RAMON VALLE is his cousin ) in Havana, Valle spent six years with Irakere, before starting his own band in 1996.

Special Guest Stars Include 4 Grammy Nominees

           * Compay Segundo (Buena Vista Social Club) Grammy Nominee
           * Rolo Martinez(Sonero)
           * Pio Leyva (Sonero) Grammy Nominee
           * Pancho Amat (tres player in Cuba)
           * David Sanchez (Roy Hargrove group) Grammy Nominee
           * Los Munequitos de Matanzas
           * Barbarito Torres (Buena Vista Social Club) Grammy Nominee
           * Yumuri (Yumuri y su Hermanos)

FAN´s reviews on Amazon.com

zentropa from Naples, FL , June 27, 1999 

Feel like I'm in the Tropics!!! WhoooHooooo!! From the first cut to the last, this CD kicks serious butt! If you enjoy Latin music at all, this is a MUST HAVE. Put it on....grab a Pina Colada...close your eyes...and your seaside in Havana. What a rush this CD is! Love it!

A music fan from Seattle, washington , June 22, 1999 

the best salsa i have ever heard

I recently returned from the Aspen Jazz Festival where I had the thrill of seeing and meeting Maraca and his band. They made me feel so alive and they are wonderful performers, very polished, and good enough for me to fly to Oakland to see them again. I recommend the cd.You will not be disappointed.

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"Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando Maraca Valle has struck gold with his new record ¡Sonando! (…) He is capable of inhuman feats on his instrument.
With ¡Sonando!, Valle proves he is also a great bandleader. (…) Maraca has the force and ability to rise above the mix, blowing tasty improvisations while maintaining a strong sense of ensemble. Maraca's superhuman talents are highlighted in the album's closing track, selva. His solo on this cut is surely one of the most incredible musical feats.I've heard in a long while.¡Sonando! is definitely a winner."
The Beat

"I simply can't describe how great this album ¡Sonando! is, it just has to be heard !"
Alex Carmenates , Dance Music Authority

"Orlando 'Maraca' Valle is an intense solist. He is persistent when he improvises, he is exciting, and he piles notes on top of notes. His virtuosity is not off-putting, because under the torrent is calculation and there is nothing facile about his playing. He shifts harmonies, superimposes dissonance and occasionally stops the flow to produce a static figure that grinds against the rhythm section. And he knows how to build a solo. By the end of the improvisation, Orlando 'Maraca' Valle has taken on the challenge to make something happen, to go beyond the ordinary.
Maraca and his band Otra Vision wander easily between street rumbas to hard bop and fusion. It is one of the few groups in the latin jazz idiom that aspires to greatness."
Peter Watrous , The New York Times

"Check out this young musicians and let them give you a glimpse of
what the future holds for afro-cuban jazz."
George Rivera , LaMusica.com

"Maraca's music is firmly anchored in the past - a move that is likely to assure him
 a long and fruitful career."
Ernesto Lechner , Los Angeles Times

"For the 3 days in late August, the premier cuban flautist Orlando Maraca Valle and his band Otra Vision graced Yoshi's Jazz House in Oakland with a superb serving of jazz and Afro-cuban dance music. (...) Definately one of the 98's bright moments."
Jesse Chuy Varela , Latin Beat
"Desde La Bahia - October 1998":
¡Sonando! DURO! For three days in late August the premier Cuban flautist Orlando `Maraca´ Valle and his band Otra Vision graced Yoshi's Jazz House in Oakland with a superb serving of jazz and Afro-Cuban dance music. A collaboration between Yoshi's and The Latino Entertainment Partners, the performances were well-attended and included a Saturday afternoon Bay boat cruise on the San Francisco Spirit.
I caught the last show on Sunday August 30 and was floored by the exquisite musicianship on stage. It opened with the obviously nervous KKUP radio personality Hector Rivera welcoming the thirteen piece ensemble, who were radiant with matching white nehru jacketed suits (with the notable exception of Maraca's wife Celine who wore a white gown). Wearing the same Indian-derived fashion but only in gray, Maraca was a perfect host and quickly kicked off with the title track from his latest AhiNama release, ¡Sonando!
As the montuno pounded, it was obvious what we were experiencing wasn't the funk-derived timba but more in line with the neo-traditionalist son movement of
Jesus Alemany & Cubanismo and Juan De Marcos Gonzales of the Afro-Cuban All-Stars. As my pal Ned Sublett of QBADISC, who introduced Maraca to the North American public through early '90s releases, would say, "es la bomba!". The 32 year-old flautist was in fine form but a tad worn from the packed schedule. Yet his talent is uplifting as he unfurls clear crisp melodic lines delivered with a classical virtousity and an Irakere-shaped jazz swing that is pretty fierce. But with the exception of a few pieces Maraca didn't play alot of jazz opting to deliver some Havana-style dancehall virtuousity. The tunes are tightly arranged dance structures with space for extended solos by the band's ringers like Reynaldo Melian (trpt), Orlando Sanchez (ts), and trap drummer Juan Carlos Rosa - "El Peje." Singers - Felix Valdes and Donaldo Flores - were superb quick-witted young soneros who pasted dollar bills from the chicas in the audience on their sweaty brows. The rest of the rhythm section (piano, bass, conga, bongo) were young adults that included an 18 year-old congero who had to get special permission from the city to perform at the 21 and over venue. Of the jazz pieces performed, "Very Facil," a fusion Afro-jazz piece, was filled with lip-ripping runs and precise well placed breaks that defied comparison. Dedicated to our resident Cuban trap drum giant - Walfredo De Los Reyes Sr. - Peje exploded with a down pour of beats and percussive colors. This guy sounds like he came out of a carnaval comparsa band and fell into Weather Report. His style is raw edged with a technique that fuses a variety of styles. The excitement he exudes connects with an audience much like say Gene Krupa did in his day. Very impressive. Orlando Sanchez was a pleasure to listen to on tenor with a Joe Farrell-influenced tone and a fearless ability to cross hamonic boundries.
Trumpeter Melian, who's work with Gonzalo Rubalcaba is renown, was great all night anchoring the horn-section and plunging into some deep son-inspired bebop. But it was Maraca who shined all-night. Everything he played seem to compliment and guide the ensemble. Yet in his exuberence to showcase his band he played a minimal amount of choruses on his solos. I truly appreciate his straight-ahead musical vision uncluttered by electronics and built on chops. In his improvisations he still searches for that perfect combination of notes to advance the conversation and stimulate interaction amongst the players. He has not yet fallen stylistically into the sonic meanderings of Dave Valentin or Nestor Torres whose circular breathing acrobatics - while at one time unique - have become cliche. One of the special treats of the show was a rare appearence by the legendary 83 year-old son singer Pio Leyva. An impish man wearing a red golfers cap, he immediately lit up the room with his humor and wit and embraced the crowd with his charisma as he sang "Una Opera" acapella that was nothing more than goof on an old Italian melody. After a few chuckles, the band kicked in with one of his big hits "No Me Digas Mas." With a voice seasoned by rum and cigars, and an amazing improvisational wit, Leyva sang the truths and wisdom that rises from the son-montuno. This one was about lies and liars. Like a Cuban Cab Calloway, the singer from Moron, Cuba led the crowd in a "hi-de-ho" style sing-along that was alot of fun. Showstoppers included "Rumbata" and "Tumbao Pa' Changuito" from Maraca's upcoming album, "Descarga Uno." It began with bata drums and folkloric grooves before the band and Peje reshaped it into a songo. On the tribute to the great Cuban percussionist, a slew of special guests flooded the stage to jam.
The first was Omar Sosa who jumped on piano and played this maddening montuno accelerating the tempo considerably. Once he locked in the groovehad on the descarga, he began to fill with dissonant chordal colors before amazing us with a brilliant solo. Bay Area percussionist John Santos was featured on timbales and took one of the best timbale solos I've heard him do in some time. But it was resident flautist John Calloway who tore it up as he and Maraca traded riffs on flute that peaked with them pulling their instruments apart and just playing the mouthpiece ( cupping it to pull high-pitched tones out of it). Maraca and crew made an excellent impression with a well-oiled ensemble of largely young players sprinkled amongst veteran Cuban musicians. For many it was their first time off the island and they played their hearts out. As a bandleader, Valle is maturing his artistic senses and reflecting cultural values that give the impression that he believes music should serve to bring people together through a collective groove. There's something mystical about Maraca and this "other vision" but I'm glad we in the Bay had the chance to experience it thanks to this memorable co-production by Yoshi's and LEP.

Biography

Maraca Orlando Valle, one of Cuba's top flute players, was born into a family of musicians in Havana, Cuba, in September of 1966. He studied flute at the Manuel Saumell National Conservatory, and began touring with the Bobby Carcasses Orchestra
( Grupo Afrojazz ) in 1987. He joined Irakere in 1988, stayed with them for 6 years and left to start his solo career in 1994.

Maraca began his professional career in 1987, with a trip to Panama, in the band of vocalist Bobby Carcasses . That same year, he became a member of Nueva Visión, the group led by Emiliano Salvador. And, in 1988, Maraca joined Chucho Valdes` Irakere, with whom he spent six years as a flautist, keyboardist, composer and arranger.
While performing with Irakere at the most notable jazz festivals and clubs throughout the world, Maraca gained the international recognition necessary to launch his solo career.

In 1996, Maraca formed his own band, Otra Visión, with whom he recorded the album, ` Havana Calling `. Accompanied with his band, Otra Visión this versatile composer and arranger incorporates diverse, Cuban elements ; descarga, guaracha, pregón son, traditional cuban music and jazz fusion.
` Havana Calling ` was regarded as one of the top ten recordings of 1996, and was praised by Latin music and jazz critics in the United States and Europe.

In April of 1998, AhiNama and Maraca celebrated the release of Maraca's latest recording, ¡Sonando! , featuring 1998 Grammy Award winners, David Sánchez, Compay Segundo, Barbarito Torres.

Maraca lives with his wife, Celine Chauveau ( Celine is the band's manager, tour organizer and she's a flute player herself in Maraca 's band !) near Paris in France, where the album ¡Sonando! released on Warner Jazz thanks to Celine's sister
Sophie Chauveau working for Warner Jazz in Paris !

Courtesy of AfroCubaWeb / AfroJazz.com

Discography

1999 , Cesaria Evora , Café Atlántico (Lusafrica, BMG)

1998 , Descarga Uno (Lusafrica, BMG)

1998 , Maraca , ¡Sonando! ( AhiNamá , Warner Jazz - WEA )
featuring David Sánchez, Compay Segundo, Pancho Amat...

1998 , Orlando Poleo , El Buen Camino (Sony Jazz , France)

1998 , Havana Flute Summit (Jazz)

1997 , Jane Bunnett & Maraca (Naxos)

1997 , Jesús Alemany & Cubanismo , Malembe (Rykodisc)

1996 , Jesús Alemany , Cubanismo (Rykodisc)

1996 , Maraca , Havana Calling (Qbadisc-BMG)

1995 , Tata Güines & Angá Miguel Diaz , Pasaporte ( Enja Records )

1995 , Fórmula Uno (Bis Music)