From Florida to Omaha: A Latin Jazz Journey

July 22nd, 2026

Twenty years ago, a father in Florida made a $150 investment his teenage son couldn’t understand. He hired an arranger to turn several of his son’s compositions into full big-band charts, even though the young musician didn’t have a big band or the musicians to perform them.

“I said, ‘Papi, I don’t know why you’re doing this. I don’t have a big band,'” José Valentino Ruiz recalls. “And he told me, ‘One day you will.'”

That son is now Dr. José Valentino Ruiz, known professionally as Jose Valentino, a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. He serves as program director for music business and entrepreneurship at the University of Florida and has earned Grammy and Emmy recognition while also serving as the U.S. State Department’s inaugural speaker on the creative economy and global arts entrepreneurship.

“I’m a composer, flutist, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and recording artist,” Valentino said. “But I’m equally passionate about helping others understand how to build meaningful and sustainable lives in music.”

A chance meeting in New Orleans

Dr. José Valentino Ruiz, a Grammy- and Emmy-recognized composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator, brings his Latin jazz compositions to Omaha with UNO’s Latin Jazz Band.

The partnership that brought Valentino to Omaha began in 2020, when Pete Madsen, director of the UNO Jazz Band, heard him perform at a jazz event in New Orleans.

“I first saw Jose Valentino at a big jazz performance in New Orleans,” Madsen said. “I said to myself, ‘This is a musician I want playing with my students at UNO.'”

Valentino remembers the same evening from a different perspective.

“There’s some guy from Omaha who I didn’t even get to meet that day,” he said. “His name is Pete Madsen. He saw me.”

A few years later, Madsen followed through, inviting Valentino to Omaha to perform with UNO students. That first collaboration quickly led to something bigger: an all-Latin big band recording featuring Valentino’s original compositions.

“When I collaborated with them, I just said, ‘This doesn’t sound like a college band,'” Valentino said. “They had the precision, maturity, stylistic understanding and energy of a professional Latin jazz orchestra.”

A partnership that keeps growing

What began as a single guest appearance has grown into an ongoing international collaboration. Now performing as UNO’s Latin Jazz Band, the ensemble has appeared in Omaha, Uruguay and Miami. Last year, a 12-piece version traveled to Uruguay while the full 18-piece ensemble performed in Miami for the release of Somos Uno.

The partnership will continue to expand next January when the group performs at the Jazz Education Network International Conference in Kentucky, marking the program’s first appearance at the conference.

What to expect at Jazz on the Green

Valentino joins UNO’s Latin Jazz Band this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. for Jazz on the Green.

“We have a full big band, an 18-piece ensemble with additional percussion,” Madsen said. “It’s all Latin jazz featuring Jose Valentino’s original compositions. There’s even room to dance up front. You won’t want to miss this high-energy concert.”

Madsen will also perform alongside the band.

The program features music from Somos Uno, Spanish for We Are One, the album Valentino recorded with the UNO ensemble.

“Audiences are going to hear music from our Somos Uno album,” Valentino said. “The title reflects exactly what the project represents, the coming together of cultures, traditions, generations and people through music.”

If You Go

Jose Valentino with UNO’s Latin Jazz Band
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Jazz on the Green

Visit the event listings from UNO’s School of Music or Jazz on the Green for venue information and additional event details.