Zapateo Suite

Since settling in Paris in 1997, this Cuban expatriate has played with the likes of Gilles Peterson and Havana Cultura, Africando, Roberto Fonseca and Fatoumata Diawara. A member of Amadou & Mariam's current band, he has also been involved in several lauded recordings. This appears to be his first as leader. His quintet – of piano, bass, drums and tres, supplemented by Hierrezuelo's own (mainly acoustic) guitar, percussion and delicate vocals – melds his dozen compositions into ‘a personal vision of Cuban music.’ Elements of the island's musical heritage spice an Afro-Cuban vocal jazz that recalls an erstwhile Omar Sosa combo on tracks like ‘Réveil’ and the lovely, loose ‘Llegando a Santiago’, with Munir Hossn's added banjo.

Hierrezuelo's guitar playing shines on ‘88 y 51 (At Popy House)’ and in tandem with Yonathan Avishai's piano on the gentle and reflective ‘Día de Lluvia’, while his vocals are particularly affecting on ‘Montuno Santo’ and ‘Algún Día Será’. Whether they form part of the Zapateo Suite or it's simply the title-track matters not; the album hangs together without a hint of the pretension associated with suites once served by long-haired prog-rockers in sparkly capes.