Influenciado is a tribute to the Afro-Cuban jazz tradition and to the pioneers of Latin Jazz.

This impetuous and dissonant jazz, with an intense melody and  contemporary language, has been inspired by classics by such luminaries as Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, Julian Cannonball Adderley, Irakére and Paquito D’Rivera, McCoy Tyner and Chucho Valdés. Born in Manzanillo, Cuba but raised in Moscow, Russia, Alexey León is a Cuban-Russian saxophonist, flutist and composer who won the prestigious Cuban Award Jojazz (Young Jazz Musicians competition) in 2017.

With three outstanding solo releases to his name - Cuba Meets Russia (2015), Cuban Connection (2018) and Okudzhava: For My Mother (2020) - Influenciado is León’s fourth album and consists of seven original compositions and two new arrangements of Dat Dere (Bobby Timmons) and The Way You Look Tonight (Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern).

The harmonic structure of title track, Influenciado, is inspired of one of the best-known jazz standards by Chucho Valdes, Mambo Influenciado. Chucho remains a great influence for all the Latin Jazz musicians. The melody of León’s composition is modern and energetic, representing his attempt to push the boundaries of Latin Jazz language.

To help interpret this music, León is accompanied by a group of celebrated Cuban jazzmen. At the piano, Caramelo de Cuba (Celia Cruz, Dave Valentin, Paquito D’Rivera and many more). In the rhythm section, Georvis Pico, Pedro Pablo Rodríguez and Reinier Elizarde el Negrón (the trio completes the Chucho Valdés Quartet). The trumpet is masterly performed by multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy Award winner Carlos Sarduy (Chucho Valdés, Irakére, Esperanza Spalding, Concha Buica, Richard Bona). The recordings also features one of the most renown Spanish drummers Marc Miralta (Pat Metheny, Mark Turner, Avishai Cohen).

The album, deeply rooted in the Cuban musical tradition and the contemporary jazz, symbolises Alexey’s evolution as a musician, reflecting his constant search for personal and musical identity. The music on this tight and effortlessly performed album transmits exuberant energy of the two inexhaustible sources of inspiration: Cuban music and Latin jazz.

TRACKS
1. Dat Dere

2. De La Habana A Moscú (From Havana To Moscow)

3. Influenciado

4. La Ceiba - Intro

5. La Ceiba

6. Kiev Station Blues

7. Guarachando

8. Ya Voy

9. The Way You Look Tonight

10. Noche de Carnaval