Orquesta Akokán burst onto the global music scene in 2018 with their no-holds-barred 21st century take on the venerable Cuban mambo lit up stages around the world with a fierce and unremitting joy. Chulo Records producer and multi instrumentalist Jacob Plasse, and arranger Michael Eckroth joined forces with a carefully curated selection of Havana’s most extraordinary musicians as Orquesta Akokán, polishing Cuban mambo’s golden sound to a luminous, contemporary sheen. Along the way Orquesta Akokán imbued these legendary Cuban grooves with a renewed vitality and powerful sense of akokán --- the Yoruba word used by Cubans to mean “from the heart” or “soul.

About the 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.