Quincy Jones, co-producing and executive producing, knows a winning combo when he hears one, and this couple of Cubanos – New Jersey-based pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and percussionist Pedrito Martinez, now in situ in LA – are a force to be reckoned with. Individually, they’re equally impressive: Rodriguez, trained in Havana’s conservatoire and delivered a striking debut, Sounds of Space, in 2012. Martinez learned his craft on the Havana streets, playing the double-headed bata at bembé parties for the orishas, and developed a masterly sound he deployed in projects by Chucho Valdes and Wynton Marsalis, as well as his own eponymous quartet. Their technical sophistication and palpable empathy elevates this project from clever (think timba versions of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the theme for the Super Mario Bros. 3 game) to compelling, with dynamic exchanges between folkloric and modern, tradition and edge. They sing, too, with remarkable grace; Martinez emotes in Spanish on ‘Yo Volvere’, a paean to Yemaya and Cuba, and one of 10 original collaborative compositions. The Cuban classic, ‘El Punto Cubano’, is the only cover, retooled to include the sampling of a tres guitar, a deft flourish on a recording filled with them.