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Jaime Valle
Lyrically-gifted veteran guitarist/composer/band leader Jaime Valle has refused to allow his growing success of the last several years slow him down. No mold decorates Valle's frequent treks from Tutto Mare in UTC on Wednesdays to the U. S. Grant Hotel downtown on Saturdays, to La Jolla's Lime Leaf Grill on numerous Thursdays or Fridays, as well as an occasional jaunt up to Nieman's or to the Coyote Bar in Carlsbad (and countless casual gigs all over San Diego county) in between. Valle also holds forth for Sunday brunches at Sally's in downtown San Diego and admits that he enjoys the rapartee of playing with bassists such as Chris Conner and Bob Magnusson since both have spent time in the company of musical heavyweights whose influence informs their work and makes the job of creating "duo music" an exercise in versatility. Versatile is a term that captures Jaime Valle's professional outlook. He carves out a ferocious weekly schedule, playing Latin jazz and straight-ahead jazz. He books several local clubs. And he writes music for movies and for commercials. "Those are jingles," he notes, "some people call them that, or worse, but the trick is to make these little tunes rise to the level of listenable songs that hook you." He chuckles when he says these words. Valle is a musician whose infectious good taste and well- acknowledged sense of humor on stage attract new admirers to his ever-expanding fan base. "We have had full houses at the Grant Grill pretty much ongoing now for three or four years and these people come to hear my band smoke, see? This is serious business," he adds. "Saturday night crowds do not want wallpaper music. They want dynamite, nitroglycerine, the musical equivalent of the hydrogen bomb. Our fans in San Diego are the greatest anywhere. They love a good time. My band 'Equinox' is there in living color to blast off and let them have it." Jaime Valle's playing exists in living color - as concocted by a manic combination of guitarist Jimmy Raney, comedian Sid Cesar, and choreographer Tito Puente. When Valle gets cranked up, he's likely to dance across the enclosed stage at the Grant Grill, rooted on by veteran bartenders, Jerry and Bubba, as well as a swirling throng pressing the stage railings with their gyrating salsa steps and vocal enthusiasm. "All in a Saturday night's job," he claims. "The energy is there, you can touch it." Valle pauses, quiet with calm inflection.
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Athenaeum Jazz-at-the-Studio presents Jaime Valle, with guest, Alex Acua, Justo Almario, Russel Blake & Allan Phillips
![Athenaeum Jazz-at-the-Studio presents Jaime Valle, with guest, Alex Acua, Justo Almario, Russel Blake & Allan Phillips](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Jaime Valle, with guest, Alex Acua, Justo Almario, Russel Blake & Allan Phillips
The Athenaeum's jazz program returns to the University Heights Studio of the Athenaeum School of the Arts (located at 4441 Park Blvd.) for a special evening of jazz led by one of Southern California's leading jazz guitarists, Jaime Valle. Voted many times over as San Diego's top jazz artist by the San Diego Music Awards, Jaime Valle is a longtime favorite of local jazz lovers, known for ...
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". . .Valle draws his diverse influences to create music that is succinctly Latin, yet worldly in its themes and textures -- earthy, spiritual, soulful, and romantic. In song after song, without exception, he defies a typical guitarist's self-absorption and generously displays highs, lows and in-betweens. The emotions from Valle's guitar reach out seductively, sometimes forcefully, to encourage the listener to join his musical journey. On par with Valle's playing is his attention to cohesion and continuity."-- Gerald Poindexter SOUNDWAVES...CD REVIEWS "... Jaime Valle is known for a full-bodied style
Primary Instrument
Guitar
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Jaime Valle is a faculty member in the music department at Mesa College SD, he is the director of the jazz guitar ensemble.
Photos
Music
Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson