Havana Maite Hontelé & Ramón Valle

• 1 Lo Que Tienes Tú 03:46
• 2 La Mulata Rumbera 04:23
• 3 Johanna 04:29
• 4 Tributo 06:15
• 5 Havana Morning Light 04:02
• 6 Almendra 04:54
• 7 Obsesión 06:18
• 8 Odjus Fitchádu 06:17
• 9 Porro Con Ramón 04:43
• Total Runtime 45:07

Info for Havana

This album captures the joy and excitement of the return of Dutch trumpeter Maite Hontele and Cuban pianist Ramon Valle to the city that witnessed so many beautiful moments in their artistic careers. Playing together is always pure joy. It's all about the musical conversation, openness and vulnerability. The friendship Hontele and Valle share off stage naturally continues on stage. It feels like a seamless extension.

Recording together in Havana was a special challenge: how do you capture that same atmosphere, that spontaneity and connection, in a studio setting? Where every note is under a magnifying glass, you still want to recreate the magic of a live performance. This is exactly, what they were able to achieve here. After playing several performances at the International Jazzplaza Festival in Havana the week before the recordings, they were already in the right flow. They felt inspired and energised.

But above all, it was their friendship and their shared love for Cuban music that made it work so naturally. That's why this album feels like a tribute to their bond, and to the rich Cuban musical culture.

Maite Hontelé, flugelhorn, backing vocals ("Lo Que Tienes Tú")
Ramón Valle, piano, backing vocals ("Lo Que Tienes Tú")
Adinda Merrains, backing vocals ("Lo Que Tienes Tú")

Maite Hontelé
It is not an easy task for a European musician to be adopted by the cradle of La8n American music, but the Latinos are clear: Maite Hontelé is a true artist, even though she comes from Europe.

The Dutch trumpet player, composer and band leader proves it right with her music, recorded on five albums full of salsa, Cuban son, cha- cha-cha, ‘urban’ salsa, Mozambique, Latin jazz, changuï and rumba. It is not surprising that she has been nominated twice for a La8n Grammy Award, has worked with big names such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Vicente García and the Aragón Orchestra. She has also toured with Rubén Blades, Yuri Buenaventura, Issac Delgado, Sonora Ponceña and Oscar D’ León, among others. Her latest album Cuba Linda was recorded in the legendary Egrem studios (Buena Vista Social Club). After a 5-year break, she is now back on stage in search of a musical adventure, together with Ramón Valle.

Ramón Valle
was born in Holguín, Cuba. Growing up in a family of musicians, he developed an interest in the piano at an early age.

At the age of 8 he began his classical piano studies and at the age of 20 he graduated with honors from the Havana Conservatory.

In Cuba, Ramón plays with na8onal heroes such as Silvio Rodríguez, Emiliano Salvador and San8ago Feliu. Despite his classical studies, Ramón has an incredible passion for jazz music and decides to go to Europe to further develop his own sound.

He se`led in the Netherlands in 1997, from where he traveled all over the world with his music and made interna8onal collabora8ons with, among others, Roy Hargrove, Marcus Miller Russell Malone and Chucho Valdés. But also in the Netherlands Valle immediately connects with the best of the Dutch scene such as Eric Vloeimans, Jesse van Ruller, Reinier Baas, Benjamin Herman, Martin Fondse, Tania Cross Lavinia Meijer and Ruth Jaco`. He has inspired more than 200,000 visitors with his live music. He sold out the Concertgebouw during the Robeco Summer Series, played several times at the North Sea Jazz Festival and was even considered the surprise of the festival by critics during his first year.

Ramón has released 14 albums with various pres8gious record labels and today has a recording contract with the international In+Out Records. He composes music for various symphony orchestras and tours with them as a guest soloist in Israel, Germany, the Netherlands and Cuba, among others. He is a popular guest on media such as VRIJE GELUIDEN by VPRO, Opium Radio, Sublime FM. Valle also composed the music for a VPRO documentary. In 2018, Ramón Valle won the Cubadisco Award, the most prestigious award in Cuban music, for his album “The Art Of Two” in the category “Best Instrumental Album”. In 2019, Ramón received an honorary award for his work as a pianist and composer and was named "one of the best Latin Jazz pianists in the world". Since January 2020, Ramón Valle is an official Steinway Artist.

This album contains no booklet.