Award-winning Latin jazz flautist Dave Valentin was born in South Bronx, New York on April 29, 1952. Born to Puerto Rican parents, he attended The High School Of Music & Art, where he focused on percussion. He changed to flute at the age of 12 with the sole purpose of getting to know a girl by the name of Irene Cathcart, who also played the flute. Valentin took lessons from Hubert Laws, who became his mentor. By the 1970s, he was mixing Latin music with jazz and making a name for himself. Valentin was the first artist signed to Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen’s soon-to-be-legendary label GRP Records. His first solo album for the label was 1978’s Legends. As his career blossomed, he recorded with artists such as Patti Austin, David Benoit, Eliane Elias, Noel Pointer and many others. He spent several years as the musical director for Tito Puente’s Golden Latin Jazz All-Stars as well as continuing his own recording career. He was nominated for three Grammy Awards throughout his career, winning the 2003 Best Latin Jazz Album award for The Gathering, an album he recorded with Dave Samuels and Paquito D’Rivera as The Caribbean Jazz Project. In 2005, he signed with Highnote Records and released his final three solo albums: World on a String (2005), Come Fly with Me (2006), and Pure Imagination (2011). Valentin suffered a stroke in March, 2012 and was partially paralyzed and unable to perform. He suffered a second stroke in 2015. Dave Valentin died on March 8, 2017 from complications of the strokes and Parkinson’s disease. At his side was Irene Cathcart, the girl that had inspired him to play the flute 52 years before.
