Alfredo Rodriguez & Ibeyi – Yemaya

ALfredo Rodriguez in his new music video, “Yemaya,” gives us a glimpse into what Cuba is really like in 2017. Produced by Brock Lefferts, “Yemaya” is the second track of Rodriguez’s latest recording Tocororo. The video features Ibeyi, a French-Cuban musical duo consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz, daughters of the late conguero and master percussionist Miguel “Angá” Diaz.

“El video está inspirado en mis raíces, Cuba, su gente, sus calles…
This video is inspired by my roots, Cuba, it’s people, it’s streets…” – Alfredo Rodriguez

As a pianist, Alfredo Rodriguez is a rare bird, the very epitomé of the one he celebrates on Tocororo. He creates music as if it were an unending flight of fancy. No less fantastic is his intuitive ability to invent, to create extraordinarily beautiful musical art with his long, supple fingers. His lines form delicate ellipses that seem to be suspended in mid-air, just long enough for the listener to be tantalised before they float away and disappear into thin air. But his music is like an endless sprint redolent with the rustle of leaves, hiss of the wind, and the ebullient chatter of the cicada. And yet he can also be like a bleak midwinter; as elementally sad as he can be joyful and summery as well as caressingly autumnal. A man for all seasons, indeed. – Raul da Gama

• Read our album review of Alfredo Rodriguez – Tocororo