Valera is yet another outstanding Cuban-born NYC-based pianist, who has worked with groups led by the great drummer Dafnis Prieto, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D'Rivera, Lenny White and Brian Lynch. For the past two years, he's been leading his group New Cuban Express and this is their third album. Valera himself has now had nine CDs out as a leader. This is his regular band plus guest Alex Sipiagin, who, it seems, appears on virtually every Criss Cross session these days. Valera, heavily featured here on Fender Rhodes, has a different approach to Latin jazz compared with, say, Aruán Ortiz, David Virelles or Elio Villafranca, with the accent firmly based on his native country's basic rhythms, which are sometimes extremely complex as on the challenging ‘Mirrors’ with its 9/4 base. All but singer/songwriter Jose Antonio Mendez’ bolero ‘No Puedo Sa Feliz’ are Valera original compositions. ‘Storyteller’ is one of the standout tracks, opening with a wonderfully cool groove laid down by Alfonso and Herrera before an especially soulful solo by Sipiagin, who again shines brightly on the exciting closer ‘Factors’. Yosvany Terry is heard to great effect on alto and soprano in contrasting tempo tunes like ‘Preamble’ and ‘NYC’, while Tom Guarna impresses as a thoroughly versatile guitarist. Valera's compositions and arrangements stand out, harmonically and especially rhythmically. An extremely accomplished musician.