Album Notes

On this, their second CD, trio Cascada de Flores is joined by master San Francisco Bay Area musicians Roberto Borrell and Sage Baggott (percussion), Miguel Govea (trumpet, trombone), and Liván Ramírez Montoya (double-bass). In the typical septet format, Cascada offers Cuban son and boleros, together with the trio's pieces from the more traditional trova cubana, as well as trova yucateca and the exquisite poetry of son istmeño (Oaxaca). The result is rich, haunting, and yet joyful. Joyful, because this music has the ability to move emotions and transport souls.

The story of "puente a la mar":

Originally the name Cascada de Flores ("waterfall of flowers") was invoked as our tribute to the immense variety of Mexican music by celebrating its passion and the diversity of its roots and rhythms. In the roots of Mexican music we found Cuba, like a wellspring, a musical source throughout the world. Its history is dynamic, its rhythms are captivating and its songs bewitched us.

Cascada de Flores recrea mediante un enlace sonoro con matices personales, el language popular entre los pueblos: la música, la poesía y el sentimiento. Adopta los diversos rasgos de la cultura de antaño tanto cubana, como mexicana, rompiendo las barreras del tiempo y del espacio, poniendo al descubierto sus emociones y así lanzarlas al viento como la fragancia de una flor.

Puente a la mar ("to bridge the sea") tells the story of music makers of Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and the continuing exchange of their musical ideas in the first half of the 20th century. It speaks of connection as a human necessity. It is a bridge which reflects the absence and longing that inspires its construction, the joy of building it and the pain of its inability to connect.

Es el reedescubrimiento de la lírica poética, con un festejo musical dialogando de nueva cuenta con el tiempo. Puente a la mar es el enlace sin fronteras del lenguaje sentimental. Habla del amor, el dolor, la ausencia, la alegría, la añoranza. Es el sonido del alma que permite acercarnos a la fuente misma de la creación humana. Puente a la mar es mirar el horizonte visual de nuestro interior y denotar que no hay límites para alcanzar lo que se quiere. Puente a la mar conlleva semejanzas ancestrales de los viajeros incansables que por cantar su historia van dejando un puente entre los diferentes lenguajes musicales.