Afro-Cuban Music Superstars

Fiery Brilliance

Harold López-Nussa

TIMBA A LA AMERICANA
featuring GRÉGOIRE MARET
with Luques Curtis & Ruy Adrian López-Nussa

The music of pianist Harold López-Nussa reflects the full range and richness of his Cuban heritage (now based in Toulouse, France​​​​​​)​, with its distinctive combination of classical, folkloric and popular elements. His embrace of jazz improvisation is fresh, exhilarating, and the personification of ritmo. His latest album, 2020’s “Te Lo Dije,” received a four-star review from DownBeat magazine and peaked at #1 on the Latin North American College & Community (NACC) Radio Chart.

See Harold López-Nussa at work: https://youtu.be/Hzm-EyYMhQo?si=115UpOzDWd4HRnt3

Pedrito Martinez

A consummate master of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the batá drum, he is also the world’s first-call rumbero—playing, singing, and dancing with dozens of Cuban rumba groups. Pedrito was a founding member of the highly successful, Afro-Cuban/Afro-Beat band, Yerba Buena, with which he recorded two albums and toured the world in the mid-to late-90’s. Pedrito and Eric Clapton recorded a newly arranged version of Clapton’s song, “My Father’s Eyes,” for a Pedrito Martinez album, called “Acertijos“(Riddles), which was released in 2021.

Watch the Pedrito Martinez Group's NPR Tiny Desk Concert: https://youtu.be/GP3jS_gFs-g?si=hUZ5rSI4Dl8t0VUE