This is Cuban giant Chucho Valdes being interviewed by Moira Gil of Kings Place (who also did the transcription and the translation) about his EFG London Jazz Festival appearances, three nights in November at Kings Place.

Just watch the powerful gesture as he describes the synthesis, the combining of different kinds of music, see how the fingers of those huge hands interlock. He does it twice:

FIRST[2: 03] : “Y si lo ves en conjunto, la musica afrocubana y afronorteamericana a partir de la misma raz Africa, simplemente se fusionan muy bien: ritmicamente, armonica- y melodicamente, el jazz y la musica cubana son compatibles…”

Translation “And if you look at the big picture, the whole of Afro-Cuban and Afro-American music are from the same root, Africa, they simply merge well. Rhythmically, melodically harmonicaly, jazz and Cuban music are compatible”

SECOND: [8 :05 ]”Yo cogi los elementos que yo conozco que son compatibles, tome elementos de la contradanza cubana, de la conga cubana, del Jazz, del romanticismo de Chopin, del neorromanticismo de Rachmaninoff, del barroco de Bach, del Flamenco, de la musica arabe (risas) de todo! Hay un tema que es Afro, que se llama “Tabu”. Y entonces como integra todas estas cosas, bueno, bueno, rompimos las fronteras.”

Translation: “I took the elements that I know and that are compatible, elements from the Contradanza cubana, the Cuban Conga, Jazz, the Romanticism of Chopin, the Neo-romanticism of Rachmaninoff, the Baroque of Bach, Flamenco, Arab music… (laughs) from everything! The record (Border Free) integrates plenty of influences, well, we broke boundaries.!