With this album as with all of his projects master percussionist Dimas Sánchez delivers a contemporary celebration of artistry, heritage, and cultural connections. As a student of Caribbean musical history, he bridges Afro Puerto Rican traditions, Afro Cuban grooves, jazz, blues, Latin, and Brazilian rhythms. Sánchez explains, “Within each piece is a story of the struggle, dignity, and unity that still beats in the collective memory of the Caribbean.”
His Afro Latin Jazz Project of which this album is a production, explores the rich rhythmic patterns of Afro-Puerto Rican music in the context of jazz. Sánchez, of Local 389 (Orlando, FL), celebrates the pan-Antillean ideal through the lens of Afro-Puerto Rican, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Dominican heritage.
He drew inspiration from the Antillean Confederation for a united Antilles, a concept championed by Ramón Emeterio Betances, the leader of Puerto Rico’s independence movement in the 19th century. He says, “Afro Antillano embodies a dream of a unified Antilles through the vibrant language of music.”
In 1985, Sánchez began playing with the premier bomba and plena ensemble La Familia Cepeda, where he says he learned the best of Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms. Since then, he’s become one of the leading voices in preserving and developing the Afro-Caribbean music legacy.
Sánchez’s percussion encompasses timbales, barriles de bomba, tambura, congas, cua, and tambora. The album hosts a number of guest artists, “Loro” features flutist and Local 389 member Nora Lee Garcia, and at its core are bandmates Mariano Morales (piano), Mauricico Rodriguez (bass), and Jochy Rodriguez (trumpet/arranger).