Rising Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez defected to LA seven years ago.
His third release as leader (produced by his manager and mentor, the great Quincy Jones) is the sound of a young musician spreading his wings and opening up to influences from across the globe.
Not that the Havana native has abandoned his roots: the Tocororo is the national bird of Cuba, and the album opens with a deft exploration of Compay Segundo's Chan Chan, which also opens the all-conquering Buena Vista Social Club album.
His collaborations with Indian vocalist Ganavaya Doraiswamy, French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and, especially, the great Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona, take the Cuban virtues of rhythmic precision and heart-on-the-sleeve romanticism in new and unorthodox directions.
