A performer, composer, arranger, and musical director at various Havana nightclubs throughout the '40s and '50s, Bebo Valdés eventually immigrated to Sweden after the Cuban revolution. He continued to compose and perform music but -- despite the fact that his son, Chucho Valdés, had become an internationally known jazz musician -- did not return to the recording studio until 1994. Encouraged by Paquito D'Rivera, Valdés traveled to Germany to record Bebo Rides Again for Messidor Records. He subsequently appeared in the documentary film Calle 54 (2000) and recorded Bebo de Cuba in 2005. Bebo Valdés died of pneumonia in Stockholm in March 2013; he was 94 years old.