[1] His predilection for piano was partially influenced by the pianists he saw on television, such as Steve Allen, Liberace, Oscar Levant and Lawrence Welk.

[2] Valdes learned alto saxophone and became a member of the Bass Public School concert band in Chicago.

He performed five nights a week at restaurants with a singer/guitarist who played commercial music such as Elvis Presley and Neil Diamond.

In 1985, he started playing with local Latin bands, then in 1987 joined La Confidencia with Mike Rivera and Angel Melendez, led by trumpeter Rich Straka.

He established Valdes Music Productions (VMP) in 1992 and created the bands Latin Jazztet, Mambo All Stars, Jazz Facets, and the International VMP Orchestra with Tito Carillo, Charles Desormeaux, Sonia Perez, Luis Rosario, and Cal Drake.

In 2015 he performed with José Valdes and the Mambo All-Stars, with Fred Cantu, Ian Letts, John Mose, Frankie Ocasio, Nathan Rodriguez, Luis Rosario, and Sonia Perez.

Valdes has worked with Jose Fajardo, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente,[1] Paquito D'Rivera, Armando Manzanero, Nelson Ned, and various Salsa and Jazz artists.