aaamusic | On 14, Apr 2011

Icon Home Entertainment is pleased to announce the May 9th DVD & Blu-ray release of “Chico & Rita”, the passionate and beautifully animated love story from Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque), and Spain’s most celebrated designer Javier Mariscal.

Set in Cuba, 1948, Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love.

With an original soundtrack by legendary Cuban pianist, bandleader and composer Bebo Valdés, on whom the character of Chico is loosely based, “Chico & Rita” captures a definitive moment in the evolution of jazz music. The film features music by jazz legends such as Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie & Freddy Cole (brother of Nat King Cole).