Instrumentation: Percussion

A warm, tropical breeze blows across the palm trees while you stroll Havana’s famous Malecón. There’s a good chance you hear the music from DASH – the latest release from Ansonica Records.

In Havana, recording sessions are done a little differently. Musicians and producers gather at recording studios, where a well-stocked bar and ample Wi-Fi are available in the lobby. A sense of ease and relaxation permeates the air -- people gather not just to produce recordings, but to create art with each other in a communal music experience.

RE/SEMBLANCE: SAATH-SAATH from Ansonica Records is a unique collaboration between Indian and Chinese musicians and a Cantopop lyricist. The result lives up to the meaning of the Hindustani phrase Saath-Saath: “together-together.” Transcending the confines of borders and cultural differences, this double album is the result of multiple crisscrossing journeys that took Chinese musicians to Bangalore and Mumbai, and took Indian musicians to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Wuhan. The music exemplifies the notion of “resemblance” by hinting at and recombining a number of cultural traditions; listeners hear a melody that hints at a Hindustani raga, Indian singers intone a Cantonese poem, and more. Through the shared language of music, RE/SEMBLANCE: SAATH-SAATH opens up exciting new possibilities for inter-cultural conversations.

In November 2015, less than one year after these initial steps toward fully opening relations, PARMA Recordings produced the first of its recording projects in Havana. The resulting album, ABRAZO: THE HAVANA SESSIONS on the newly-minted Ansonica Records label, presents works for big band, small jazz combo, choir, and chamber ensembles by composers Bunny Beck, Roger Bourland, Don Bowyer, Margaret Brandman, John Carollo, Timothy Miller, Mel Mobley, and Michael Murray performed by current or former members of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, the Buena Vista Social Club, Irakere, and many more.

Ansonica Records presents a fantastic collection of traditional Cuban music authentically performed by the Havana based all-female octet, Ellasón. The dynamic group is comprised of vocals, baby bass, chorus, guitar, congas, bongos, cowbells, two clarinets, violin, and a voice leader. Ellasón focuses on traditional Cuban and Latin-American music with inspiration from the Cuban musical genre, La Trova.

Ansonica Records’ new release CHÉVERE richly explores and demonstrates the myriad cultural intersections that have recently become available to American and Cuban musicians. The album came together at a recording session that took place in Havana, Cuba in the month of January in 2017. The release presents a variety of collaborations between American, or American-based, composers and Cuban instrumentalists, arrangers, singers, and composers. Some of these connections are relatively straightforward, while others are more nuanced and personal; yet, they all enrich the compositions on CHÉVERE with the energy unique to the interaction of two powerful musical traditions.