On Hello My Friend, I pick up where my instrumental album Nights In Cuba left off, returning to Havana for another crate-digging excursion through its dusty vinyl archives.

This series started when I embarked on an impromptu trip to Cuba in 2010 with the hopes of digging its seldom-dug crates (by Americans anyway). Long inspired by Cuban music and Latin Jazz, I didn’t have much of a clue where to begin but I had faith. I flew in from Grand Cayman without a plan or accommodations and hit the streets. On my first night I connected with some musicians who invited me and my friend to stay in their home. They took us in and throughout the trip, connected us with a couple vinyl sellers including Don Rafael of Tienda Seriosha, whom I later learned was a well known guy in the vinyl world. The crate of records I bought from him ended up becoming the source material for Nights In Cuba.

Tourism to Cuba existed in a grey area at the time (and still does). Back then, Cuba did not stamp American passports to avoid US customs drama upon reentry. On paper, one would essentially disappear for the duration of their stay. I didn’t know if my passport would be scrutinized but was a little worried about having my crate of vinyl confiscated as it was pretty clear cut evidence of visiting Cuba, so I DHL’d the box of 80 or so records to NY once I got to Cayman from Havana. When the vinyl arrived I started running them through my MPC200XL.

Eventually I invited some musicians over to my studio at The Mes Hall in Mt. Vernon, to perform over the beats I made. Among them were three SUNY Purchase students in their Latin Jazz Orchestra — percussionist Brenden Tacon who traveled to Cuba with me, bassist John Feliciano, and saxophonist/flautist Duncan Hardy. Additional contributors included pianist Christopher Burke, trumpeter Ryan Gardner, drummer Greg Perlman, guitarist Isaac Kaplan, and Scram Jones who did the scratches on the record. I released the album later that year on CD, and eventually on 2xLP vinyl.

Fast forward to 2022, I flew back to Havana, this time, directly from Miami as the tourism laws had changed since my previous trip. I reconnected with old friends and made a bunch more. Sadly, I learned Don Rafael of Seriosha had recently passed away. With the help of a local friend, we found his family who invited me to do a private dig of his collection at their home. It was a bittersweet, full circle moment. Like on Nights In Cuba, the crate I returned home with is the inspiration for Hello My Friend.

It took a few years, but eventually I got around to making some beats out of the new batch of Cuban vinyl. I followed a similar blueprint of Nights In Cuba, again inviting other musicians to get involved once I had some material to work with. On Hello My Friend, Gil Dekel plays electric bass, NYC salsa legend Pete Nater is on trumpet, Clay Xavier is on saxophone and flute, and we have remixes of the title track by Napoleon Da Legend, The Kickdrums, Maitre D, and Es-K.

Hello My Friend is available on CD, and yellow, orange and black splatter vinyl, and features cover artwork by WJ Tian. The Bandcamp digital deluxe version includes 5 exclusive tracks, plus all the remixes too.

Special thanks to Ycel Jiménez, Rover Silva, Madreagua, Carlos Miguel, Notorio, Manual y Meiyesi, Brenden Tacon and RJ Partington III. RIP Don Rafael. Without getting too deep into politics, I’ll end with this: the US has been strangling the Cuban people for decades and the embargo must end.