(Bacalao Records)

Drummer Brian Andres delivers a super high-energy session on his second recording, San Francisco. Andres introduces the Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel on this effort, a collective of Latin American, European, and U.S. born musicians, who are in perfect sync as the percussion and brass-driven ensemble delivers a spirited set of rhythm-drenched Latin Jazz music that will move you. The fantastic ensemble includes great contributions from Jamie Dubberly on trombone, Steffen Kuehn on trumpet,  Carlos Caro on percussion an Aaron Germain on bass, among many others. The song list includes mostly originals from band members, including Dubberly, Germain, Kuehn and pianist Christian Tumalan, giving the project a really fresh sound in the Latin genre. Gloria Amaral provides the beautiful vocals for the album’s only ballad. Andres and company are first rate and so is this tremendous production.