Orquesta Akokán Unveil Uplifting Cuban Mambo, Both Profane & Prophetic, on ‘Caracoles’
PRAISE FOR Orquesta Akokán
“Joyous Cuban dancehall.”
“A must for the very image of taking joy in music.”
“'Akokán' is a Cuban Yoruba word meaning 'from the heart,' and such is the thread underlining all of their work.”
“Fresh and jubilant.”
“One of the latest and most innovative groups moving the genre in a progressive direction while maintaining its airy, joyous foundations.”
TRACKLIST
1. Con Licencia
2. Pan Con Tíbiri
3. Caracoles
4. Suave Suave
5. Cha-Cha-Cha Pa’Ca (feat. Carolina Oliveros)
6. La Fiera
7. Pregonero
8. Las Siete Vidas de Inés
9. Flor di mi Campo
10. Doña Felipa
Caracoles is out now, buy/stream it here.
Today, Orquesta Akokán — the Billboard Latin Music Award-winning, GRAMMY-nominated ensemble that boasts members from New York and Cuba — release their highly anticipated, already acclaimed album Caracoles via Daptone Records (Thee Sacred Souls, Sharon Jones, Jalen Ngonda). Listen to Caracoles here.
Recorded live at the famed Abdala studios in Havana, Caracoles is packed with orquesta gigante tunes performed with relentless and intricate rhythmic feels, colorful bebop intonations, and an irresistible, danceable swing. This is undoubtedly music that inspires the body to move, but it also is designed to uplift the spirit — the profane and the prophetic are all interwoven throughout Caracoles.
As a four-star review of Caracoles from The Guardian elaborates, “purring reed and strident brass sections, rippling piano and exultant vocals are here, along with insistent, conga-driven rhythms. The languid charms of the Buena Vistas these are not.”
In the music video for focus and title track “Caracoles,” the album’s heart and soul is turned outward, as legendary Cuban choreographer Santiago Alfonso was put to the task. At 86, Alfonso is one of Cuba’s leading choreographers; his productions are regularly featured on the state TV channels, he was the director of the Tropicana for many years, and was a founder of the Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba before forming his own company.
Watch the music video for “Caracoles” here.
Caracoles also introduces the band’s new singer and lyricist Kiko Ruiz, not only a formidable performer and presence, but a tata — priest — in the Palo Mayombe religion. For Ruiz, mambo is both a song and a prayer, beseeching good spirits to guide one’s journey away from darkness.
Remezcla called lead single “Con Licencia” “a tune that embodies joy and spirit, polished by the sounds of brass and bongos. The warm blare of the opening trumpet paints a vivid picture of a Havana alleyway in the summertime.” Of Caracoles most recent single, “Pan Con Tíbiri,” KCRW said it’s “a spicy blend of mambo and Mozambique that’s making waves among the brass and bongo crowd,” with it’s music video being “a must for the very image of taking joy in music. The players’ expressions as they unite through song say it all.”
ABOUT THE ORQUESTA AKOKÁN MUSICIANS
Jacob Plasse continues his extensive exploration of Latin music, faithful to a path that began in 2007 when he co-founded salsa brava band Los Hacheros.
Michael Eckroth, renowned as a renaissance musician, applies his profound knowledge of Cuban music and a longstanding history of collaborating with iconic greats from the Latin music and the jazz worlds, from Pedrito Martinez to John Scofield .
A light joyousness permeates the tunes’ radiant riffs, thanks to the spellbinding virtuosity of percussionists who revel in the same rhythmic fleetness of the Cuban maestros while adding their own stamp to the beats: Keisel Jimenez (Havana d’Primera, Arturo O’Farrill) and the young phenoms Roberto “Tato” Vizcaino (who has collaborated with esteemed musicians, including Roberto Vizcaíno, Gabriel Hernández, Chucho Valdés) and Yuya Rodriguez (daughter of renowned musician and percussionist Octavio Rodriguez Rivera, and winner of Cuba’s Fiesta del Tambor in 2019).
Grounding the percussionists is the formidable bass of Gaston Joya, who was awarded the Order for Cuba’s National Culture in 2017 and who can be heard on virtually all the most highly acclaimed Cuban jazz records of the last two decades.
And the fierce, dynamic horns (nine total!) are led by alto saxophone player Cesar Lopez, former member of Irakere, Cuba’s greatest jazz band; tenor saxes Emir Santa Cruz Hernández and Jose Luis “Chewy” Hernández; baritone saxophonist Evaristo Denis; trumpeters Harold Madrigal Frías, Reinaldo “Molote” Melián, Orlando “Bocasa” Peña; trombonists Heikel Fabian and Yoandy Argudin.
For the first time in their recordings, Orquesta Akokán spotlights the layered luminosity of vibrant female coros, care of Lisset Caro Farquenson, Diana C. Caro Farquenson, Gina D’Soto and Natalia Pérez. Additionally, the smoky, potent alto of Carolina Oliveros (from alt-Latin tropical futurism band Combo Chimbita) graces “Cha-Cha-cha pa’ ca”.
Last but certainly not least, the sonic quality of Caracoles was carefully ensured by Cuban engineer Jorge “Beny” Benitez, who apprenticed under Benny Moré’s engineer and has recorded a veritable who’s who of Cuban performers.
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