Alex Acuna - Gifts (feat. John Peńa) (2026) [Hi-Res]

Alex Acuña is a prolific drummer, percussionist, composer, and bandleader who has amassed more than 900 recording credits. After touring with Perez Prado during the '60s and playing with Elvis Presley in Las Vegas, he became a member of Weather Report from 1975 to 1978, playing on Black Market and Heavy Weather. He has been a recording and touring sideman to a dazzling array of artists ranging from Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell to Andre Crouch and Blondie. In addition to releasing half-a-dozen albums under his own name, Acuña has played on more than 900 recordings, including soundtracks. Gifts marks his debut for Le Coq Records.

The album reunites the drummer/percussionist with his longstanding band the Unknowns, which includes Venezuelan keyboardist Otmaro Ruiz, Peruvian guitarist Ramón Stagnaro, and Nuyorican bassist John Peña. They are joined by a newcomer, Peruvian saxophone powerhouse Lorenzo Ferrero. The lineup is buoyed on select tracks by cellist Giovanna Clayton, trumpeter Michael Stever, and vocalists Diana and Regina Acuña.

Groove is the name of the game on this ten-track set. Opener "In Town" is jaunty as a Fender Rhodes, bumping bassline, and breaking snares create a foundation for the frontline instruments to deliver a sweeping, nearly transcendent lyric line. They rhythm section adds a funky backbeat as Ferrero delivers a pastoral solo. "Postlude" is rendered with lilting instrumental backdrops along the illustrative head, recalling some of early Weather Report's smoother moments. The third track is a cover of WR co-founder Joe Zawinul's immortal "Mercy Mercy Me" composed while a member of Cannonball Adderley's legendary sextet. The Adderley version was a hit single, while this one is deep but fingerpopping, relying more on funky R&B than soul-jazz and offering a killer guitar break from Stagnaro. Other highlights include "Chuncho," a Latin groover with syncopated horn charts, soaring Afro-Cuban chorus vocals from Diana and Regina Acuña, and interlocking percussion from the bandleader. There is also a wonky 12/8 version of Herbie Hancock's early classic "One Finger Snap" (from 1964's Empyrean Isles) with elastic swing provided by Diana's vocal twins with tenor sax as breezy guitar and piano ride above layers of rumbling bass and hand percussion. Clayton's cello takes the lead in "Divina" with glorious asides from Ferrero and Stagnaro. "Regalo" is an atmospheric ballad with sparse yet kaleidoscopic percussion that serves to ground the spectral, shimmering keyboards. On "Melancia" Stagnaro uses a nylon-string guitar in conjuring a breezy samba, as Diana's wordless vocals float above Peña's tumbao bassline while sax and guitar offer a lyric head and melodic fills. Set-closer "Aletin Aletin" weds jazz fusion and slick New York salsa amid a swinging tempo and glorious interplay from the horns. On Gifts, the 77-year-old Acuña is a somewhat reserved bandleader; he never longs for the spotlight. Instead, he has his band carry the message in the music on this wonderfully conceived, expertly performed offering.