This recording is a prime example of why we reviewers have such problems coming up with a final ‘Year’s Ten Best’ CDs list. Barcelona-born brilliant bassist-composer Cuadrado’s previous record (Noneto Ibérico on the BJU label) was one of 2011’s most creative albums, but the presence of a product by so many heavy jazz musicians prevented it from making my final cut. This is equally interesting, but totally different. It’s a jazz protest inspired by and based on the respected Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s poems about the inequality, racism and injustice he witnessed in New York during the Great Depression of 1929. Cuadrado’s music covers many bases. A mix of modern jazz, latin, flamenco and new music, it’s performed with a brooding intensity, reflected both in A-lister Acuña’s emotional interpretations of Lorca’s words and the superb band’s passionate performances. Miguel Zenón grows in musical stature with every recording. Here he’s equally moving on mournful flamenco-based tracks and on the more robust outings like ‘The Dance of Death’. Pianist Dan Tepfer, a Lee Konitz sideman for five years, is equally impressive – contrasting an almost delicate touch on the slower numbers with exciting stabbing chords personifying the overall feeling of protest. Cuadrado, highly regarded by left-of-centre jazzers like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mark Turner as well as singers like Youssou N’Dour, is unquestionably a welcome new major force in latin, world and jazz.