Cuban pianist Ortiz has created a superb body of work in the past decade, maintaining consistently high quality in a wide range of settings. He has been adventurous in his use of Latin folklore and the European classical canon, and that continues with this session.

Ortiz's language has acquired notable marks of distinction, above all his way of creating the most delicate overtures, where he picks at bass notes and skims the higher register to fashion glistening but concise, almost elliptical motifs so that the daringly large gaps between lines acquire substantial emotional and narrative weight. With iconic drummer Andrew Cyrille responding sensitively to Ortiz the material is often finessed tone poetry, yet Ortiz has also found a way of blending these subtleties with the driving, metronomic traditions of Afro-Cuban music, and Cyrille proves to be a deft groovemeister, especially with his combinations of funky tom and snare beats. The way the two musicians interact on ‘Golden Voice’, a piece based on the 19th century changui rhythm, is simply thrilling. Having said that, percussionist Mauricio Herrera, using anything from marimbula to bongos and bells, also brings significant additional rhythmic and textural richness to the songs, and the entwining of his vocals with Ortiz's on the intriguing opener ‘Lucero Mundo’ proves another highlight. Ortiz is emerging as a highly significant force in contemporary creative music for his ability to retain the essence of his cultural identity in the midst of boundless experimentation.