{"id":4172,"date":"2026-08-13T18:22:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.haru-agency.com\/?page_id=4172"},"modified":"2026-08-20T03:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:05:11","slug":"irving-acao","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.haru-agency.com\/fr\/artists\/irving-acao\/","title":{"rendered":"Irving Acao"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Havana Nights Latin Jazz<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Irving Acao<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
BOOK THE BAND<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A Havana-born tenor saxophone where Afro-Cuban rhythm, Brazilian colour and modern jazz meet.<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Born in Cuba in 1977, Irving Acao belongs to that rare lineage of tenor saxophonists who can carry the full force of Afro-Cuban rhythm without ever reducing jazz to ornament or display. His sound is built on movement: the conversational lift of Cuban popular music, the discipline of classical training, the deep grain of the tenor, and a curiosity that reaches from Latin jazz to Brazilian music, fusion, African traditions and contemporary improvisation.<\/p>\n

Music came early. Acao entered Havana\u2019s Luis Casas Romero classical music school at seven, first studying piano before taking up the saxophone at ten. The instrument quickly became his natural language. Drawn to John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and McCoy Tyner, he developed a vocabulary in which technical command is inseparable from listening, melodic patience and rhythmic precision. By nineteen, he had been chosen by Chucho Vald\u00e9s to play tenor saxophone with Irakere, the landmark Cuban ensemble whose fearless blend of jazz, rock, funk, classical writing and traditional Cuban rhythms changed the global perception of Latin jazz.<\/p>\n

That early appointment placed Acao in an extraordinary international orbit. He worked with Orlando \u201cMaraca\u201d Valle before joining Irakere and later shared stages with artists including Michel Camilo, Danilo P\u00e9rez, McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Arturo Sandoval, Tito Puente, Dave Liebman, St\u00e9phane Belmondo, Changuito, Ivan Lins, Ray Lema and Giovanni Hidalgo. His contribution to Chucho Vald\u00e9s\u2019 New Conceptions, released by Blue Note, was part of the album\u2019s Grammy-winning 2004 recognition for Best Latin Jazz Album. These encounters did more than build an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9: they sharpened Acao\u2019s ability to move between traditions while retaining a voice of his own.<\/p>\n

After settling in Paris, he emerged as a sought-after performer, composer and arranger, equally at ease in intimate acoustic formats, expansive Latin-jazz ensembles and collaborative projects. In 2008, he formed the Irving Acao Quartet with pianist Leonardo Montana, bassist Felipe Cabrera and drummer Lukmil P\u00e9rez. Their album Azabache presented a refined and adventurous Latin jazz, balancing intricate rhythmic architecture with space for lyricism. The project\u2019s palette, energetic compositions, Brazilian-inflected writing, thoughtful ballads and an homage to Coltrane, captures Acao\u2019s central gift: making sophisticated music feel immediate and alive.<\/p>\n

He is also a key voice in El Comit\u00e9, the Cuban all-star collective whose modern \u201ccubanismo\u201d folds contemporary jazz sophistication into the shared memory of Havana\u2019s musical traditions. His composition \u201cNada M\u00e1s,\u201d described as a deft, melancholy ballad, reveals another side of his musicianship: restraint, tenderness and a willingness to let the melody breathe before the solo arrives.<\/p>\n

On stage, Irving Acao brings authority without rigidity. His saxophone can cut through a dense percussion-led arrangement, shadow a singer with elegance or open a wide, searching improvisation. It is music shaped by Havana and grounded in dance, nourished by jazz, and driven by an enduring appetite for exchange.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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Irving Acao’s project is available from trio to quintet.<\/div>\n
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Line-up can be adapted to the artistic direction, venue capacity and event format.<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

PRESS<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Irving Acao is undoubtedly among the most talented and prolific Cuban musicians in Paris.
\nQUE BOLA PARIS<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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As a key member of El Comit\u00e9, Irving Acao contributes to a virtuosic Afro-Cuban jazz collective praised for its fluid interplay, vivid polyrhythms and exuberant melodies.
\nRADIO FRANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Irving Acao appears as a featured tenor saxophonist on \u201cHarlem,\u201d from Ibrahim Maalouf\u2019s 2019 album S3NS, where his expressive solo meets Maalouf\u2019s trumpet in a vivid Afro-Cuban dialogue.
\nLATIN JAZZ NETWORK<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Discography<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Azabache | 2013<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Line up<\/p>\n<\/div>

Irving ACAO | Sax Tenor<\/span>
\nLeonardo MONTANA | Piano<\/span>
\nFelipe CABRERA | Double Bass<\/span>
\nLukmil PEREZ | Drums<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Listen to the actual project<\/p>\n<\/div>