Havana Night Sessions at Abdala Studios

Of all the mash-ups in all the world, this Romani-Cuban musical summit had to happen one day. And it was well worth the wait. Under the aegis of Romanian musician and political activist, Damian Drăghici, it took place in the summer of 2016. ‘Both Romani and Cuban people share such an intense passion for music,’ says Drăghici, adding that he ‘thought it would sound cool.’

It's certainly cool in the right sense, though there's nothing cool about the passionate, uplifting music on this album. While rhythmically speaking the keynote is unsurprisingly Cuban, it's all the little touches – like the surprising penny whistle that accompanies the great Omara Portuondo on ‘Serenata en Batanga’, or Marin Alexandru's melancholic violin on ‘Jungali’, or the jaunty accordion on ‘El Corazón Yo Te Dare’ – that mark this out as something quite original. The two musical cultures meld memorably on the two hardy Cuban perennials that end the album, ‘Ay, Mamá Inéz’ and ‘Chan Chan’, leaving you with the impression that something this good shouldn't have taken so long to come about.