Son Charanga

In 2002, at a memorial for Mauricio Smith—a great musician and dear friend—I ran into the accomplished flautist Andrea Brachfeld.

I was there with my partner at Latin Cool, David Wasserman.

I asked Andrea, “What’s new?” She told me she was busy putting together a new Charanga-Jazz album. Curious, I followed up: “Who’s releasing it?” Without missing a beat, she replied, “You are.” And she was right.

After working through the details, we completed the album for Latin Cool, titled Son Charanga. Andrea proved to be an exceptional producer, assembling an outstanding group of musicians for the project:

Oscar Hernandez (arranger, piano); Alfredo De La Fe and Lewis Kahn (violins); Jerry Madera (bass); Chembo Corniel (congas); Willie Martinez (timbales); Papo Pepin and Jose Madera (percussion); with vocals by Chico Alvarez, Jorge Maldonado, Marco Bermudez, and Willie Martinez. Additional arrangements were contributed by Al Torrente and John Di Martino. Andrea herself served as arranger, composer, flautist, and vocalist.

The album was produced by Andrea Brachfeld and Jerry Madera.

Play the Son Charanga Descarga below