Orquesta Akokán

When Orquesta Akokán burst onto the global music scene three years ago, their no-holds-barred 21st-century take on the venerable Cuban mambo lit up stages around the world with 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.”

Set for release on Daptone Records, Caracoles ushers Orquesta Akokán’s unique brand of mambo into the 21st century, imbuing it with the group’s signature sense of akokán–a Cuban Yoruba word meaning “from the heart”. Back at the helm are producer and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Plasse and virtuosic pianist, composer, and arranger Michael Eckroth—a collaboration that continues to lead Orquesta’s exploration of the sublime mambo in all its depth and breadth. For Caracoles, they combine talents with Cuban lyricist, singer, and composer Kiko Ruiz, who has toured and recorded with Pancho Amat’s illustrious Estrellas del Buena Vista Social Club as well as Los Jovenes Clasicos del Son. Orquesta Akokán’s eponymous 2018 debut riffed on Cuba’s golden grooves from the 1940s and 1950s with fresh style and panache. In contrast, 2021’s 16 Rayos pushed the envelope of the classic mambo by coloring it with an edgy variety of rhythms and styles.

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