Cepeda’s latest release Passion is her most personal to date: a Latin jazz mosaic of 13 pieces, presenting five original compositions among gems from North and South American repertoires. The album’s progressive arrangements blend American swing elements with Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian rhythms while incorporating further influences from Argentina and Venezuela.
The recording in and of itself is a gallery of world-class musicians gathered from wide-ranging geographies under one creative umbrella, including Americans Barry Sames on piano and Thomas Helton on double bass, Brazilians Adriano Santos on drums and Cassio Duarte on percussion, Cubans Orlando Fuentes on drums and Ernesto Vega on sax and flute, and Puerto-Rican trumpeter Omar Martinez. Special guest appearances by Argentinean Grammy winner Hector del Curto on bandoneon, Venezuelan cuatro player Jorge Glem, Venezuelan Marlon Simon on drums and percussion, and American, David Caceres on backup vocals.
With original arrangements by Barry Sames and Raquel Cepeda, and contributions from Thomas Helton, Joe LoCascio and Marvio Ciribelli, Passion also represents Cepeda’s debut as a producer, with recording engineer Andy Bradley as co-producer and Cassio Duarte as production assistant. The album was entirely recorded and mixed by Andy Bradley at Houston’s Wire Road Studios, and mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Studios in Austin.
