Orquesta Akokán - Orquesta Akokán (2018)

Featuring all-original music cut live to tape over a three day session at Havana's hallowed state-run Estudios Areito - one of the longest operating studios in the world and where seminal Cuban records have been made since the early '40s, and more contemporarily with the 1997 release of the Buena Vista Social Club album - the group's self titled debut feels like a heartfelt gift from the band to listener. Which is no coincidence being that Akokán is a Yoruba word used in Cuba meaning "from the heart", and indeed every song presented here is just that.