Dave Valentin
{{Short description|American Latin jazz flautist}}
{{for|the Scottish rugby union, and rugby league footballer of the 1940s, and 1950s|Dave Valentine}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Dave Valentin
| image = DaveValentin01.jpg
| caption = Valentin at the World Music and Dance Centre, March 2008
| birth_name = David Peter Valentin
| birth_date = {{birth date|1952|4|29}}
| birth_place = South Bronx, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|3|8|1952|4|29}}
| death_place = The Bronx, New York, U.S.
| genre = Latin jazz, smooth jazz, salsa
| occupation = Musician
| instrument = Flute
| years_active = 1965–2012
| associated_acts = The Blackout All-Stars
}}
David Peter Valentin (April 29, 1952 – March 8, 2017) was an American Latin jazz flautist of Puerto Rican descent.
Life and career
Valentin was born to Puerto Rican parents in The Bronx in New York City. He attended The High School of Music & Art.{{cite web|title=Dave Valentin|url=https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/davevalentin|work=All About Jazz|access-date=22 August 2016}} He learned percussion at an early age, and by 10 was playing conga and timbales professionally.{{cite book|last1=Rye|first1=Howard|editor1-last=Kernfeld|editor1-first=Barry|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz|date=2002|publisher=Grove's Dictionaries Inc. Location=New York|isbn=1-56159-284-6|page=172|volume=3|edition=2nd}}{{Citation|last=Moreno|first=Jairo|title=Valentín (Ramírez), Dave|date=2011-06-02|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/documentID/omo-9781561592630-e-1002093537|work=Oxford Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2093537|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0|access-date=2021-09-30|url-access=subscription}} When he was 12, he began to practice the flute so he could get to know a girl in school who played the flute, Irene Cathcart. He borrowed a flute, bought a Herbie Mann record, and started to teach himself. {{cite web|last1=Gonzalez|first1=David|title=Dave Valentin Hangs with Cool Cats, at Home and David performed his first song at their Spring Concert ~Wes Montgomery's ~ "The Joker" along with his Jazz Quartet. Away|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/nyregion/dave-valentin-hangs-with-cool-cats-at-home-and-away.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=22 August 2016|date=3 June 2011}} Years later, he recorded an album with Mann called Two Amigos. He took lessons from Hubert Laws, who became his mentor.
In the 1970s, Valentin combined Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and funk with jazz with his ensemble which featured at various times Bill O'Connell (piano), Lincoln Goines and Ruben Rodriguez (bass), Richie Morales and Robby Ameen (drums), Sammy Figueroa and Giovanni Hidalgo (congas). He was the first musician signed to GRP Records, a label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen that specialized in smooth jazz, jazz fusion, and jazz-pop-Latin. He recorded his debut album with Ricardo Marrero in 1977. Over time he recorded with Noel Pointer, Patti Austin, Lee Ritenour, Chris Connor, David Benoit, Eliane Elias, and Nnenna Freelon. Until 1979, he was a schoolteacher.
For several years Valentin served as musical director for Tito Puente's Golden Latin Jazz All-Stars, and also toured with Manny Oquendo's Conjunto Libre. In 2000, he appeared in the documentary Calle 54 performing with Tito Puente's Orchestra.{{cite news|last1=Slattery|first1=Denis| title=Viva: Dave Valentin, Grammy-winning jazz flutist from the Bronx, dies at 64|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/dave-valentin-grammy-winning-jazz-flutist-bronx-dies-64-article-1.2992660|access-date=9 March 2018|work=New York Daily News| date=9 March 2017}}{{cite web|last1=McCallister|first1=Doreen| title=Grammy Award-Winning Latin Jazz Flutist Dave Valentin Dies at 64|url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/12875326/grammy-award-winning-latin-jazz-flutist-dave-valentin-dies-at-64|website=kqed.org|date=9 March 2017 |publisher=KQED|access-date=9 March 2018}}{{cite web|title=Dave Valentin, Flutist|url=http://jazzmuseuminharlem.org/events/dave-valentin-flutist/|website=Jazz Museum|publisher=The National Jazz Museum in Harlem|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-date=18 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318183402/http://jazzmuseuminharlem.org/events/dave-valentin-flutist/|url-status=dead}}
For seven years in a row, he was chosen best jazz flautist by readers of Jazziz magazine. In 1985, he received a Grammy Award nomination as best R&B instrumentalist. In 2003, he won a Grammy for Caribbean Jazz Project, an album he did with Dave Samuels.{{cite web|title=A Special Valentine for Dave Valentin|url=http://thebronxchronicle.com/2014/01/06/a-special-valentine-for-dave-valentin/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312153152/http://thebronxchronicle.com/2014/01/06/a-special-valentine-for-dave-valentin/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 12, 2017|website=The Bronx Chronicle|access-date=22 August 2016|date=6 January 2014}}
In March 2012, Valentin had a stroke which left him partially paralyzed and unable to perform. In 2015 he suffered a second stroke, and worked to overcome his disabilities in an extended-care facility.{{cite web|last1=Gonzalez|first1=David| title=Latin Jazz Stalwart Struggles to Make Sweet Sounds Again|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/nyregion/latin-jazz-stalwart-struggles-to-make-sweet-sounds-again.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=22 August 2016|date=5 January 2014}}
On March 8, 2017, Valentin died from complications of a stroke and Parkinson's disease in the Bronx at the age of 64. His lifelong "special friend", Irene, for whom he learned to play the flute, was at his side when he passed.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/arts/music/dave-valentin-dead-latin-jazz-flutist.html?_r=0 |title=Dave Valentin, a Grammy Award-Winning Latin Jazz Flutist, Dies at 64. Irene Cathcart, the girl he learned to Flute to meet |first=Sam |last=Roberts |author-link=Sam Roberts (newspaper journalist) |work=The New York Times |page=B14 |date=March 8, 2017}}
Discography
- Legends (GRP, 1978)
- The Hawk (GRP, 1979)
- Land of the Third Eye (GRP, 1980)
- I Got It Right This Time (Arista, 1981)
- Pied Piper (GRP, 1981)
- In Love's Time (Arista/GRP, 1982)
- Flute Juice (GRP, 1983)
- Kalahari (GRP, 1984)
- Jungle Garden (GRP, 1985)
- Light Struck (GRP, 1986)
- Mind Time (GRP, 1987)
- Live at the Blue Note (GRP, 1988)
- Two Amigos (GRP, 1990)
- Musical Portraits (GRP, 1992)
- Red Sun (GRP, 1993)
- Tropic Heat (GRP, 1994)
- Sunshower (Concord Jazz, 1999)
- Primitive Passions (RMM, 2005)
- World on a String (Highnote, 2005)
- Come Fly With Me (Highnote, 2006)
- Pure Imagination (Highnote, 2011)
With Steve Turre
- The Spirits Up Above (HighNote, 2004)
With the GRP All-Star Big Band
- GRP All-Star Big Band (GRP, 1992)
With Scott Cossu
- Islands (Windham Hill, 1984)
- Switchback (Windham Hill, 1989)
- Stained Glass Memories (Windham Hill, 1992)
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Discogs artist}}
- [http://www.musicofpuertorico.com/index.php/artists/dave_valentin Dave Valentin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171617/http://www.musicofpuertorico.com/index.php/artists/dave_valentin/ |date=2016-03-03 }} at Music of Puerto Rico
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentin, Dave}}
Category:American jazz flautists
Category:American male musicians
Category:American salsa musicians
Category:American musicians of Puerto Rican descent
Category:Musicians from the Bronx
Category:Jazz musicians from New York City
Category:The High School of Music & Art alumni
Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state)
Category:American male jazz musicians
Category:GRP All-Star Big Band members
Category:The Blackout All-Stars members