Francisco Cespedes

Cuban singer-songwriter Francisco Cespedes and jazz piano giant Gonzalo Rubalcaba pay tribute to pre-revolutionary lounge lizard Bola de Nieve (i.e. Snowball). In the '30s and '40s, Bola pioneered the swinging Cuban romantic style later known as filin (feeling), which just about says it all about this record. Departing from his signature jazz pyrotechnics, Rubalcaba makes a sublime return to his roots. Cespedes sweetens his rum-on-the-rocks voice with some sugar and proves himself the true heir to Bola's unique Afro-Cuban ballad style. Recorded in Miami and Havana, this is an understated masterpiece that unites the Cuba of yesterday and today.