Co-produced by Quincy Jones, a central figure in Alfredo Rodríguez's unfolding story since the pair met at the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival, this fourth release for Mack Avenue by the Grammy-nominated Cuban pianist and vocalist presents a hugely enjoyable 12-track collection, nine of which are penned or co-written by the leader. On album opener, ‘Dawn’, Rodríguez channels Abdullah Ibrahim's ecstatic quality, layering up his own wordless vocals into a beguiling chant. Initially drawn to jazz and improvisation on receiving a copy of Keith Jarrett's The Köln Concert at the age of 15, it's perhaps no surprise that a Jarrett-like lyricism is discernible on tracks such as ‘Bloom’ and ‘Dance Like A Child’. A beautiful reworking of ‘Bésame Mucho’ by the Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez is another standout. Whether constructing pounding ostinatos in the memorable ‘Silver Rain’, doubling a deliciously circuitous melodic line on Fender Rhodes in ‘De Rua Pra Rua (From Street To Street)’, or building to a rapturous climax with torrents of notes in ‘Tree of Stars’, as a listener you're swept along by the surging tide of Rodríguez's restless imagination.