Albums
Elio Villafranca Live: Caribbean Tinge
Editor Danilo Navas and New York Co-Editor Tomas Peña Discuss Elio Villafranca and The Jass Syncopators: Caribbean Tinge Live at Dizzy’s (Motema Music)
TP: I attended the performance at Dizzy’s (Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York). You viewed it via live-stream in Toronto, Canada. How was it on your end?
DN: Technically, the sound was great. Visually, a single camera was used, as opposed to the Nuevo Jazz Latino webcast, where several cameras were used. During the first set the lighting was a bit dark, probably because the backdrop is the New York City skyline and it was still daylight. The lighting for the second set was much better.
If you’ve never been to Dizzy’s, it has been described as “the best jazz room in the city.” The acoustics are superb and it offers a panoramic view of the New York City skyline. On the evening I attended the music and the vibe could not have been better.
About the band: The Jazz Syncopators are loosely based on Duke Ellington’s Serenaders AKA “the colored syncopators.” According to Elio, “Syncopation was such a big part of this music, jazz, and such a big part of Cuban music.” With that concept in mind, Elio formed a new band with top-players from both genres.
The compositions, arrangements and musicianship were great. As a leader, Elio was in command. The band performed at its best, as a very tight unit.
Yes, I was impressed with the band as a whole. Each and every player brought their “A” game to the performance and the recording. I was equally impressed with the band’s ability to shift gears – from jazz to various forms of Afro-Caribbean music – which is not an easy thing to do.
The interaction between the band members was fantastic. Also, the addition of trombonist Steve Turre to the lineup couldn’t have been more appropriate. His solo on the conch shells was one of the highlights of the show. Another impressive moment of the concert for me was the intro to the song “Cofradias”, performed by percussionist Jonathan Troncoso. He played the balsie drum, which is a melodic drum used in the Dominican style of Palo. The balsie player alters the pitch of the drum by applying pressure with his foot. I found a similarity in sound with the Brazilian “cuica”. Simply fascinating.
Agreed. Coincidentally, I sat next to Steve’s son, drummer O’ Ryan Turre, who enjoyed the solo as much as I did.
I also would like to mention the dialogue between the dancer, Julia Loiza Guiterrez-Rivera and the lead drummer (who played the barril called Primo or subidor). In Puerto Rican bomba, the drummer follows the dancer, who determines the rhythmic patterns with his/her moves. The intervention of Julia Loiza Guiterrez-Rivera (a magnificent dancer) was magical. It added a very special dimension to the whole performance indeed.
The dance element was a great touch. Julia is one of New York’s hottest Bomba and Plena dancers. She and Elio have performed with Los Pleneros de la 21, which I’m guessing, is where they connected. Another highlight (of the live performance) was Paula’s Blues, a tune that Elio composed for his mother. It was straight-up blues with a Latin tinge. I also liked the fact that Elio connected with the audience. It’s important that the audience “gets” what the artists are doing.
What are some of your favorite tunes on the recording?
Sunday Stomp At Congo Square takes me back in time to New Orleans and the gatherings of slaves at Congo Square, when they were allowed to sing and dance. The use of an Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythm called Yubá as a rhythmic foundation for this track is majestic and hypnotizing.
I like Flower by the River. It’s ceremonial, solemn, almost like a funeral song. It has a very cinematic feel. At one point the ensemble sounds like a marching band. The tune slowly evolves into a captivating instrumental conversation.
I also like the composition, Tango for Two. It’s Elio’s first exploration into tango territory. According to several sources, milonga originated in the Rio de la Plata area of Argentina and Uruguay. It was quite popular in the 1870s and is considered the predecessor to tango. And talking about syncopation, an interesting fact: Milonga has a syncopated beat, consisting of 8 beats with accents on the 1st, (sometime also the 2nd) 4th, 5th and 7th beats.
Also, The Source in Between, it’s a great rendition of a previously released track and the title of Elio’s 2008 release. On that album, Elio explored a straight-ahead jazz format with a quartet. The tune was re-arranged to fit the sound developed with the Jass Syncopators.
My favorite tunes are the title track (Caribbean Tinge), which is the first tune Elio composed for the Jass Syncopators. Cofradias, which incorporates the Dominican rhythm Salve and speaks to the brotherhood between Caribbean music and jazz. Mambo Vivo, which is dedicated to the late, great Dámaso Pérez Prado.
To sum things up, the performance was top-notch and Caribbean Tinge is Elio’s most impressive effort to date. By the way, Elio is the recipient of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s first ever Millenium Swing Award. Congratulations to Elio and to JALC for having the good sense to make the concert available to the public.
Regarding the concert, I repeat what I said for Nuevo Jazz Latino, one of the most terrific webcasts I have watched: “If it’s true that nothing replaces the experience of attending a live music concert, I’m convinced the closest you can get to it is through a webcast, an online feed transmitting the action as it is happening (and it could be in any place in the world). JALC does a commendable service providing this free option to Jazz lovers, no matter where they are around the globe, as long as they have high-speed internet connection. The result is truly professional… provides a unique perspective of the performance, creating a remarkable experience for the online viewer”.
Regarding the recording, Elio Villafranca and the Jass Syncopators: Caribbean Tinge – Live from Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, is already on my list of best recordings for 2014. It is uplifting, the music gets in your veins right from the first track. It makes you move and sparks an interest in history and everything Caribbean. Congratulations to Elio and his Jass Syncopators for a wonderful album.
Album Tracks: 1. Introduction; 2. Sunday Stomp At Congo Square; 3. Last Train to Paris; 4. Caribbean Tinge; 5. Flower By The Dry River; 6. Cofradías; 7. Mambo Vivo; 8. Two to Tango; 9. The Source In Between.
The Players
Elio Villafranca (piano): He is at the forefront of the latest generation of remarkable Cuban pianists, composers and bandleaders that for several years has been making major creative contributions to the international development of modern jazz. Born in the Pinar del Río province of Western Cuba, Villafranca was classically trained in percussion and composition at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba.
Gregg August (bass): Originally a drummer, while spending two years at SUNY Albany, studying percussion with Richard Albagli, Gregg learned the bass. He spans the jazz, Latin jazz, classical and avant-garde scenes. A sought-after composer and arranger, celebrated for his versatility, breadth and intelligence, Gregg has been an active member of the New York music scene for over ten years.
Carlos Henriquez (bass): In 1998, swiftly after high school, Henriquez joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, touring the world and featured on more than 25 albums. Henriquez has performed with artists including Chucho Valdés, Paco De Lucia, Tito Puente, the Marsalis Family, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Marc Anthony, and many others.
Willie Jones III (drums): Born in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 1968, Jones’ earliest exposure to music was through his father, Willie Jones II, an accomplished and notable jazz pianist, who offered guidance and inspiration to his gifted son. Jones completed his academic training after receiving a full scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts where he studied under the tutelage of the legendary Albert “Tootie” Heath.
Lewis Nash (drums): Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Lewis developed an early interest in music and began playing drums at age 10. By age 18, he was performing with local jazz groups. By the time he was 21, Nash had become the “first call” jazz drummer in Phoenix, working with Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, Red Garland, Lee Konitz, Barney Kessell and Slide Hampton during their engagements in the city.
Sean Jones (trumpet): He is an American trumpeter and composer featured on the 2007 Grammy Award-winning Turned to Blue from Nancy Wilson. As a bandleader, Jones has released five albums under the Mack Avenue Records label. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally, in addition to being a lead trumpeter for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Terell Stafford (trumpet): Terell Stafford is a professional jazz trumpet player and current Director of Jazz Studies at Temple University. He was born in Miami, Florida, and raised in both Chicago, Illinois, and Silver Spring, Maryland. He got a degree in music education from University of Maryland in 1988 and a degree in classical trumpet performance from Rutgers University in 1993. Stafford soon branched out to jazz with the University of Maryland jazz band.
Vincent Herring (alto saxophone): Vincent is a saxophone virtuoso with a uniquely intense and vigorous musical voice. He is considered one of the premier saxophonists of his generation, a guest soloist with Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center and John Faddis with the Carnegie Hall Big Band. Vincent is currently on the faculty of William Patterson University and conducts master classes and jazz workshops at conservatories and universities around the world.
Greg Tardy (tenor saxophone): Born into a musical family, Gregory Tardy began his musical career studying classical clarinet. While studying with renowned clarinetists Russell Dagon and Jack Snavely, Tardy began preparing for a symphony career. Although he never practiced the saxophone seriously, Tardy began getting calls to play local funk gigs in the Milwaukee area. At the prodding of his older brother, Tardy finally explored the music of John Coltrane, and determined to be a jazz musician.
Anthony Carrillo (barril/congas): Anthony Carrillo hails from Puerto Rico. He developed his reputation in the ’80s with Batacumbele, an Afro-Caribbean outfit that helped pave the way for his work on Paul Simon’s “Rhythm of the Saints” disc. A regular sideman with master Eddie Palmieri, Carrillo has proven his proficiency on such instruments as the batá, shekere, , barril, conga and bongos.
Jonathan Troncoso (balsie drum/bongos): Jonathan “JBlak” Troncoso, was born into a family of musicians in Dominican Republic, in 1982. Jonathan was inspired to be a musician at an early age by his father, Domingo Troncoso, a percussionist. At the age of five, he picked up his first instrument, “la tambora”, and amazed his family and neighbors. Shortly thereafter, Jonathan began playing guira and later, bongo. Versed early on in playing percussion for popular music Jonathan began playing professionally as his father’s young protégé. His musical life changed and interests shifted when Jonathan moved to New York City in 1992, at the age of 10.
Los Pleneros de la 21 members: Juango Gutierrez (barriles), Nelson Mateo (barriles), Camilo Molina (barriles).
Label: Motema Music | Release date: June 2014
Website: eliovillafranca.net | Buy music on: amazon
Watch a performance of Elio Villafranca and The Jass Syncopators at Dizzy’s in 2013:
For Claudia Acuña, home has never been a fixed destination. It is something carried—in the body, in memory, in language, and in sound.
On Ave de Luz, the Chilean vocalist brings those fragments together with unusual clarity. After three decades in New York, Acuña no longer treats her roots as something to weave quietly into jazz. She places them at the center. Her striking declaration—“I’m coming in with my crown, my poncho, my everything”—captures the album’s spirit perfectly.
Raised in Concepción during Chile’s dictatorship years and later transformed by New York’s jazz scene, Acuña has spent much of her career moving between worlds. Ave de Luz feels like the moment when those worlds stop competing with one another.
A Specifically Chilean Jazz
Acuña has resisted the idea that “Latin jazz” can be reduced to a single vocabulary. Afro-Cuban and Brazilian traditions may dominate the popular understanding of the term, but Latin America contains countless rhythmic, folkloric and indigenous languages.
Her own metaphor is simple: noodles and spaghetti may look related, but they are not the same thing.
That idea shapes Ave de Luz. The album is not merely jazz with Chilean colour added to it. It is music whose identity emerges from cueca, Andean traditions, indigenous sonorities, poetry, migration and improvisation.
The trutruka, charango, zampoña, tormento and Chilean pandero become part of the album’s grammar. They interact with Manu Koch’s piano and keyboards, Carlos Henderson’s bass and Yayo Serka’s drums and percussion without sounding ornamental or exoticized.
Poetry, Memory and Resistance
“Chinga La Ka Chinga” captures one of the album’s most expansive ideas. Festive on the surface, the piece also acknowledges Afro-Chilean and northern Chilean currents, suggesting how celebration can carry history, resistance and cultural memory within its pulse.
Elsewhere, the music turns inward. “Piececitos de Niño,” inspired by Gabriela Mistral, brings poetry and childhood into the album’s emotional landscape, while “Rezo” feels almost elemental: voice, charango, atmosphere and silence shaping a meditation on nature, distance and belonging.
Acuña’s reading of Violeta Parra’s “La Jardinera” is equally significant. Its imagery of planting, tending and healing becomes an apt metaphor for tradition itself. Culture survives not by remaining untouched, but by being replanted. Acuña does precisely that.
The Wind From the South
“Viento del Sur” also carries special resonance, recalling the title of Acuña’s 2000 debut, Wind from the South. Then, the image suggested a Chilean artist arriving in the international jazz world. Here, the meaning has changed.
The south is no longer where she came from. It is something she continues to carry.
That idea finds its fullest expression in the title track. The “bird of light” becomes an image of migration without erasure—a figure moving forward while remaining connected to its place of origin. The metaphor fits Acuña herself.
Her longtime musical relationship with Koch, Henderson and Serka gives Ave de Luz much of its freedom. Years of trust let the ensemble move naturally between folk memory, jazz improvisation and contemporary textures without forcing boundaries between them.
Ave de Luz may be Claudia Acuña’s most complete artistic statement because it no longer asks her identities to compromise.
The crown is experience.
The poncho is memory.
Jazz is the road between them.
And Claudia Acuña travels that road carrying Chile fully into the light.
Album Information
- Artist: Claudia Acuña
- Album: Ave de Luz: Chilean Jazz & Soul
- Label: Delfin Records
- Release date: July 10, 2026
- Genre: Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Chilean jazz
- Format: Digital/streaming
- Final digital release: 7 tracks, approximately 36 minutes
Tracklist
- Chinga La Ka Chinga – (Claudia Acuña, Coch, Hernandez & Serka) – 4:43
- Ave de Luz– (Mario Rojas) – 5:48
- Viento del Sur– (Claudia Acuña & Jason Lindner) – 6:01
- Rezo– (Claudia Acuña) – 3:49
- Piececitos de Niño– (Based on a poem of Gabriela Mistral / Music by Claudia Acuña) – 6:10
- Un Gorro de Lana– (Víctor Acosta) – 4:18
- La Jardinera– (Violeta Parra) – 6:01
Personnel
- Claudia Acuña – vocals, percussion/claps, tormento; producer
- Manu Koch – piano and keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5)
- Carlos Henderson – bass
- Yayo Serka – drums and percussion
- Pablo Vergara – piano (tracks 6, 8)
- Andrés Pollak – piano, organ; producer (track 7) | organ (track 1)
- Pablo Zárate – accordion, Chilean pandero (track 2)
- Fredy Torralba – traditional Chilean/Andean instruments including charango, trutruka and zampoña
- Paulina García – spoken word (track 6)
- Daniel Kelley-Acuña – vocals (track 6)
Production Credits
Produced by Claudia Acuña and Andrés Pollak. Most of the sessions were recorded at East Side Sound in New York in November 2025, with “Ave de Luz” recorded at TOC Música in Santiago in October 2025 and additional recording completed at Banduria Studio in Santiago. Andrés Pollak handled engineering on the principal New York sessions; Rafael Chaparro engineered the Santiago title-track session with Javier Lizana assisting. Marc Urselli mixed and mastered the project.
With La Malinche, Eva Cortés delivers one of the most ambitious recordings of her career—a project in which history, identity, migration and music converge around one of the most contested figures in the Americas.
Malintzin, also known as Doña Marina or La Malinche, has long been portrayed through conflicting narratives: interpreter, intermediary, mother of mestizaje, victim, survivor and, in later nationalist mythology, traitor. Cortés does not try to settle that debate. Instead, she uses Malintzin as a symbol of cultural transition, displacement and survival.
That choice makes particular sense for an artist whose own life has unfolded across borders. Born in Honduras (Central America), shaped culturally in Seville (Spain) and later immersed in New York’s jazz community, Cortés has always made music from the space between traditions. On La Malinche, that in-between space becomes the heart of the album.
A Music of Crossings
The album brings together flamenco, Latin jazz, contemporary jazz and Indigenous-inspired imagery without turning the result into a forced fusion.
Rather than attempting to recreate pre-Columbian Mexican music literally, Cortés evokes Indigenous memory through percussion, communal voices, repetition and themes of ancestry, earth and maize. Flamenco enters through Spanish guitar, vocal inflection and the expressive grit associated with cante. Jazz supplies the harmonic freedom and improvisational space that allow those elements to interact.
The musicians surrounding Cortés are crucial to that balance. Pianists Pepe Rivero, Jon Cowherd and Zaccai Curtis, bassists Christian McBride, Luques Curtis and Reinier Elizarde “Negrón,” and drummers Antonio Sánchez, Adam Cruz and Georvis Pico give the album both rhythmic strength and harmonic flexibility. Roman Filiú, Paco Heredia, Marvin Sewell, Bandolero and others expand the palette further. The result is music that never feels boxed into one category.
The Voice at the Center
Cortés’ singing remains the album’s most powerful instrument. Her phrasing can be loose and conversational, then suddenly sharpen into something more urgent and flamenco-inflected. She moves between reflection, mourning, protest and defiance without sacrificing musical control.
Most importantly, she refuses to define Malintzin through betrayal. Her interpretation focuses instead on endurance and complexity.
The opening “Abuelita Malinche” immediately makes that clear. By calling her “Abuelita,” Cortés transforms Malinche from a figure of accusation into an ancestral presence. The arrangement blends Latin-jazz movement with flamenco coloration, while her wordless vocal passages move naturally between scat and cante.
“Hij@s del Maíz” extends that idea of cultural mixture. Paco Heredia’s guitar, Pepe Rivero’s piano, Antonio Sánchez’s drums and the accordion create a sound that travels across regions rather than belonging to one. Maize becomes a symbol of Indigenous continuity, while the music reflects the constantly changing character of mestizaje itself.
From History to the Present
The album becomes even more powerful when it connects the past to contemporary realities.
“Letters to Heaven” and “Remember Me” introduce themes of Indigenous loss and the disappearance of women from both historical memory and present-day communities. “Sur Global” shifts toward resistance, combining rhythmic drive with a broader reflection on colonialism, migration and inequality.
Then “Spanish Harlem” brings the journey firmly into the present. Horns, flute, tumbao and call-and-response place Cortés within New York’s Latin-jazz tradition, completing a musical path that stretches from ancestral memory to the modern city.
A Major Statement
La Malinche is more than an album built around a historical figure. It is a meditation on who controls history, who gets remembered and how identity continues to change across generations and borders.
Cortés turns her own musical hybridity into the album’s central idea. Jazz, flamenco and Latin American traditions do not simply coexist here—they help tell the story.
The result is one of her strongest and most focused recordings to date: emotionally direct, musically sophisticated and deeply rooted in the ongoing conversation between memory and transformation. La Malinche is not about recovering a pure past. It is about reclaiming the right to reinterpret it.
Album Information
- Artist: Eva Cortés
- Album: La Malinche
- Label: Truth Revolution Records / TRRcollective
- Release: June 2026
- Official press release date: June 5, 2026
- TRRcollective Bandcamp release date: June 19, 2026
- Format: CD / Digital
- Number of tracks: 11
- Total running time: 51:53
- Genre: Jazz / Latin Jazz / Flamenco / Afro-Latin
- Recorded in: Madrid, Spain, and Little Falls, New Jersey, USA
Tracklist
- Abuelita Malinche — 4:35
- A Tribo do Vento — 5:46
- Soy el Aire — 5:31
- Light and Sorrow — 3:59
- Hij@s del Maíz — 4:24
- Letters to Heaven — 5:04
- Remember Me — 3:28
- Sur Global — 5:43
- No Me Limites — 4:33
- Indians of All Tribes — 3:53
- Spanish Harlem — 4:57
Personnel
- Eva Cortés — vocals, composer, lyricist, backing vocals
- Pepe Rivero — piano, keyboards, arrangements
- Jon Cowherd — piano
- Zaccai Curtis — piano, keyboards
- Christian McBride — bass
- Luques Curtis — bass
- Reinier Elizarde “Negrón” — bass
- Paco Heredia — Spanish guitar, guitar, arrangements
- Marvin Sewell — guitar
- Roman Filiú — saxophone, flute, backing vocals
- Bobby Martínez — saxophone
- Manuel Machado — trumpet
- Antonio Serrano — harmonica
- Javier Colina — accordion
- Bandolero — percussion
- Roland Guerrero — percussion
- Antonio Sánchez — drums
- Adam Cruz — drums
- Georvis Pico — drums, vocal solo, backing vocals
Production Credits
- Produced by: Eva Cortés, Roman Filiú and Pepe Rivero
- Label: Truth Revolution Records / TRRcollective
- Session One: Camaleón Music Studio, Madrid, Spain
- Recording Engineer, Madrid: Diego Román
- Session Two: Studio Mozart, Little Falls, New Jersey, USA
- Recording Engineer, New Jersey: Kostadin Kamcev
- Mixing: David Darlington
- Mastering: David Darlington
- Mixing and Mastering Studio: Bass Hit Studios, New York, NY
- Photography: Noah Shaye
The title Abriendo Puertas—“Opening Doors”—captures the spirit of guitarist Roni Ben-Hur’s latest recording with unusual precision. Recorded in Havana with an accomplished group of Cuban musicians, the album is built not around the novelty of a visiting jazz guitarist encountering Cuban music, but around something more meaningful: musicians listening closely enough to find a common language.
Ben-Hur has spent much of his career moving naturally between musical worlds. Born in Israel to a Tunisian family and shaped professionally by New York’s jazz community, his playing draws from bebop, Brazilian music, Mediterranean traditions and Latin rhythms without sounding like a collection of influences. His years with pianist and mentor Barry Harris helped establish the melodic clarity, swing and understated sophistication that remain central to his guitar style. On Abriendo Puertas, those qualities fit remarkably well within a Cuban setting.
The key creative partner is pianist Alejandro Falcón, who contributes four of the seven compositions: the title track, “Gua’ One Blues Pal Bobby,” “Lo que es del César” and “El Teide.” Rather than treating Ben-Hur as a soloist placed in front of a Cuban rhythm section, Falcón helps create an ensemble language in which guitar and piano continuously exchange roles. Their compatibility is evident from the opening title track, where rhythmic momentum and lyrical improvisation develop patiently rather than through display.
“Gua’ One Blues Pal Bobby” pushes the conversation toward the blues while retaining a strong Cuban rhythmic identity. It is one of the album’s most spirited performances, illustrating how readily the vocabulary of jazz can coexist with the rhythmic imagination surrounding Ben-Hur in Havana. By the time the ensemble reaches “Lo que es del César” and “El Teide,” the distinction between guest and host has largely disappeared. What remains is a cohesive band responding to one another in real time.
The album’s romantic center comes through three classic Latin American songs. José Antonio Méndez’s “Mi Mejor Canción” brings the intimacy of the Cuban filin tradition into the program, while Osdalgia Lesmes appears on Isolina Carrillo’s “Dos Gardenias” and Armando Manzanero’s “Esta tarde vi llover.”
Lesmes brings warmth and emotional directness to both performances, and Ben-Hur proves once again what a sensitive accompanist he can be. His guitar surrounds the voice rather than competing with it, reflecting an approach he has developed through years of working with singers, including the late Brazilian vocalist Leny Andrade. Ben-Hur has spoken of the importance of leaving space for vocalists and allowing melody and lyric to remain at the center of an arrangement.
That same sense of space benefits the entire recording. Pedro Pablo Gutiérrez on acoustic bass, Ruy López-Nussa on drums and Octavio Rodríguez Rivera on percussion provide a foundation that is rhythmically rich without becoming overcrowded. Tenor saxophonist Emir Santa Cruz, featured on four tracks, adds another expressive voice and gives several performances a broader jazz-ensemble character.
Recorded at DBega Studios in Havana in November 2025, Abriendo Puertas is part of the Cuban Notes recording series co-produced by Ben-Hur and Dot Time Records founder Johanan “Jo” Bickhardt. Yet the album succeeds beyond the concept behind the series.
Its strength is ultimately found in the musicians themselves. Nobody appears interested in proving how effortlessly jazz and Cuban music can be combined. They simply play together until those distinctions become secondary.
For listeners who appreciate expressive jazz guitar, Cuban music and recordings where collaboration matters more than spectacle, Abriendo Puertas is easy to recommend. Warm, sophisticated and deeply conversational, it finds Roni Ben-Hur opening another musical door—and discovering an ensemble waiting on the other side.
Album Information
Artist: Roni Ben-Hur
Album: Abriendo Puertas
Label: Dot Time Records
Catalog: DT9192
Genre: Jazz / Latin Jazz
Release Date: June 26, 2026
Recorded: November 2025
Studio: DBega Studios, Havana, Cuba
Format: CD / Digital
Program: 7 tracks, approximately 49 minutes.
The project is part of Cuban Notes, co-produced by Johanan “Jo” Bickhardt and Roni Ben-Hur. It follows Alejandro Falcón’s Falcón in Blue as the second album in the series.
Tracklist
1. Abriendo Puertas – Alejandro Falcón – 8:12
2. Mi Mejor Canción – José Antonio Méndez – 6:32
3. Dos Gardenias – Isolina Carrillo – 5:23
4. Gua’ One Blues Pal Bobby – Alejandro Falcón – 9:23
5. Esta tarde vi llover – Armando Manzanero – 5:56
6. Lo que es del César – Alejandro Falcón – 6:17
7. El Teide – Alejandro Falcón – 7:49
Personnel Credits
Roni Ben-Hur — guitar
Alejandro Falcón — piano
Pedro Pablo Gutiérrez — acoustic bass
Ruy López-Nussa — drums
Octavio Rodríguez Rivera — percussion
Emir Santa Cruz — tenor saxophone, tracks 1, 4, 5 and 7
Osdalgia Lesmes — vocals, tracks 3 and 5
Production Credits
Executive Producer: Johanan “Jo” Bickhardt
Co-Producer: Roni Ben-Hur
Recorded at: DBega Studios, Havana
Recording date: November 2025
Sound Engineer: Carlos D’Bega
Label: Dot Time Records
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