Henry Cole & Villa Locura (w/ Metropole Orkest) present BUSCANDO LA VIDA due out November 19

Musical Visionary Henry Cole & Villa Locura present sprawling new

masterwork, BUSCANDO LA VIDA, due out November 19, 2021

via La Musica Artesanal

Puerto Rican master drummer, composer, arranger Henry Cole is thrilled to announce the release of Buscando La Vida, a new full-length recording with his dynamic ensemble Villa Locura. Due out for release on November 19, this bold, life-affirming work commissioned by Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works finds the Grammy-winning musical polymath in a highly creative and expressive state. Augmented by the renowned Metropole Orkest, and featuring an eclectic cast of top-notch collaborators including Antibalas frontman Duke Amayo and MC Negro González, Buscando La Vida showcases Cole’s extraordinary and expansive vision. 

A native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Cole’s cross-cultural style draws on African, Indigenous, and European influences and positions him at the forefront of jazz innovation and 21st-century rhythms. “If I had been a Puerto Rican musician playing a few centuries ago, I would have had the same kind of influences,” explains Cole. “They’ve come together to create a mestizo sound, and I’m carrying that forward.” In 2012, inspired by Fela Ransome-Kuti and the Africa 70 with Ginger Baker, Cole’s Roots Before Branches garnered superb reviews from the New York Times, World Music Report, and Jazz Times among others. National Public Radio declared the album “One of the Five New Directions in Jazz Evolution,” and jazz icon Chick Corea praised Cole for “beautifully expanding on the traditions he grew up with.”

Over the years, Cole’s power and versatility have proven indispensable to the world’s most acclaimed jazz groups, including The Miguel Zenón Quartet, David Sánchez, The Gary Burton Quartet, Fabian Almazan Rhizome, the Ben Wendell Quartet, the All-Star quartet 90 Miles, and Chano Dominguez as well as the groups Chambao, Calle 13, Residente, Siete Nueve, Balún and Draco Rosa.

The last few years have been a whirlwind for Cole. Six months to the COVID-19 shutdown, tragedy struck when a fire destroyed Cole’s New York City apartment. Two months later, he relocated to his native Puerto Rico, and “started from zero.” These plans were disrupted when the world shut down in March 2020, creating an even more tenuous situation. Concurrently, Cole received some welcome news: The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation was giving him a New Jazz Works grant. As one of the only Puerto Ricans to ever be granted this honor, Cole felt an immense responsibility to create something that would be representative of his work, and of his native Puerto Rico. “Losing a home - and then having to do all the work that comes with that gives no time to complain or overthink. It's about action. These are the so-called "fight or flight" situations. When faced with life-threatening conditions, we can access our "superpowers," which is what this album is all about,” reflects Cole. 

Photos of Henry Cole by Pipo Exe & Jerome Stoope

Throughout the pandemic, Cole kept busy by working on Buscando when he could, and by releasing singles with Villa Locura including “El Diablo” with Tito Allen, “Caminando” with Tego Calderon, “Si Va’llover” with Alex Lopez “El Callejero,” and “Atiende” with Andy Montañez. With the support of the New Jazz Works grant, Cole was able to broaden his scope for this new project and unleash his own “superpowers” in spite of the poor state of the world around him. “Death became the word of the day," writes Cole in the liner notes, "the death of humans, work, faith, plans, bank accounts and so much more. In the middle of so much death, I decided to look for life.”

Featuring eight original compositions by Cole, Buscando La Vida is rooted in jazz, but features strong elements of funk, Afrobeat, soul and hiphop, synthesized through Cole’s singular vision. Some of the selections were inspired by feelings; the cinematic opening “No Estamos Solos” (“We Are Not Alone”) is a colorful showcase for the Metropole Orkest in particular and was written as a reflection on unexpectedly crossing paths with like-minded people and realizing we, as a people, are not alone. Some are more personal: “Y en Sueños te Persigo” (“And in Dreams I Chase You”) is about being “so obsessed with an idea, the creator pursues it in dreams” and “Dime Donde Estas” (Tell Me Where You Are), and “H.C.S.”  are dedicated to Cole’s estranged father, Henry Cole Simon. “De Frente” (Head On), a genre-mashup featuring the sharp-tounged Negro Gonzalez, is a meditation on confronting and taking responsibility for one’s life, including all its positive and negative qualities while “Azul Turquesa” (Blue Turquoise) is a reflective love song. “Shinobi (He Who Hides)” is dedicated to the figure of the ninja - a figure of inspiration for Cole that speaks to the ability to develop a “killer” instinct ability without sacrificing one’s essence. The vibrant closer “Vueltas” (Turns) pays homage to the community that created the Delta Blues and its relation to the Puerto Rican Jibaro, and, as Cole says,  “the "gatekeeper" to our hearts.”

“Every move, idea, melody, rhythm, and concept on this project is fueled by the "fight or fly" energy we carry – the life inside us and around us. The only way we could complete this project was to adapt to what was possible during the pandemic and never for a minute lose faith or focus, and by working as a family. Buscando La Vida is a testament to courage and excellence during the worst moments. Also, the collaboration with the Metropole Orkest takes our culture, the group, and Puerto Rico to new places in history,” shares Cole.

1. No Estamos Solos (ft. Metropole Orkest) (7:58)

2. Y En Sueños Te Persigo (8:33)

3. Dime Dónde Estas (4:22)

4. H.C.S (1:01)

5. De Frente (ft. Negro González) (4:15)

6. Azul Turquesa (6:12)

7. Shinobi (He Who Hides) (4:06)

8. Vueltas (Feat. Duke Amayo) (7:36)

Featuring:

Henry Cole – Drums, Synths, Rhodes

The Metropole Orkest, Jahaziel Garcia – Trumpet, Jonathan Acevedo – Tenor Sax, Andrew Gutauskas – Baritone Sax, Kalani Trinidad – Flute, Benito Diaz – French Horn (4,5), Randy Roman – Trombone (4,5), Giovanny De La Rosa – Guitar, Javier Perez – Guitar, Ricardo Rodriguez – Bass, Emanuel Rivera Gambaro – Keyboards, Synths. Alberto “Beto” Torrens – Baril, Bryant Huffman – Chekere, Duke Amayo – Main Vocals (8) Negro Gonzalez – Main Vocals (5), Antoinette Rodriguez, Melissa Orsini, Dayanira Arzuaga, Genesis Z. Cordero - Back Up Vocals (8)

La Musica Artesanal

Tito Allen and Henry Cole remake El Diablo

Henry Cole & Villa Locura - El Diablo (featuring Tito Allen) 2018

You Funky Devil: GRAMMY-winning drummer Henry Cole’s Bomba-Powered Reinvention of Salsa Classic, “El Diablo”

Exuberantly inventive drummer Henry Cole was listening to a favorite album one day, when a whole new arrangement for a classic song leaped into his head. The result was “El Diablo (Espiritu Burlon),” the first song from SIMPLE, the long-awaited follow up his 2012 debut, Roots Before Branches.

The new song, like a lost Latin track off Maggot Brain, embraces Cole’s vision for 21st-century Puerto Rican music, encompassing a wide range of global influences from folkloric rhythms to jazz, rock, and funk. These influences are second nature to Cole, who’s played with jazz (luminaries Miguel Zenón, Ben Wendel, and Gary Burton, as well as Chambao, Residente/Calle 13, and Draco Rosa.

“El Diablo” was written by the iconic Puerto Rican songwriter Rafael Hernández nearly 80 years ago and was made famous by legendary percussionist Ray Barretto on his 1973 Fania Records album Indestructible. Singer Tito Allen was the lead singer in Barretto’s band at the time, and he repeats that role here, despite declaring he would never do another version. Some songs find the perfect recorded form, something so good it makes covers feel impossible. That’s what Tito Allen felt about “El Diablo,” and he swore was the only version the world needed.

Cole’s arrangement swayed him in the end. “I did that song with Ray and it made no sense to do it again without him, though lots of people asked,” says Allen. “Then Henry told me he wanted to record it. The group he had was so different. I was still thinking I might want to turn it down but then I heard the tunes a couple of times, and heard a lot of different stuff here. So I said yes. We did it and whoa, it sounded good. The guys he had were amazing, I felt so good there with them.”

The track shows how firmly Cole is pushing Puerto Rican forms forward. “‘El Diablo’ was purposely chosen as the first song I wanted people to hear from this new project,“ says Cole, who was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. “Rafael Hernández is the most beloved songwriter ever to emerge from Puerto Rico, and Ray Barretto is easily one of the greatest Latin jazz and salsa percussionists of all time. These are my roots, my heroes. So ‘El Diablo’ is my tribute to them.” Cole had a chance to play with Barretto several years ago as part of a jazz project Barretto spearheaded.

Cole burrows into the heart and pulse of the folkloric Puerto Rican bomba rhythm and rebuilds the track from there. Cole and his band Villa Locura freely wed a deeply churning polyrhythmic base to big band horns, rock guitars, electric piano and chanted call-and-response choruses. Tito Allen’s singing rides over all of it like a wicked master of ceremonies, egging the musicians on.

“Having Tito Allen on this song was a dream come true,” says Cole. “He told me that he’d turned down all requests since 1973 to re-record the song because the original was the unbeatable standard, but he thought my arrangement was different, so he agreed to join us.”

The musicians on El Diablo are a veritable who’s who of international artists who either call New York City home or are part of the constant Nuyorican/Puerto Rican back and forth. Bassist Panagiotis Andreou was born in Greece while guitarist Guilherme Monteiro hails from Brazil and pianist Luis Perdomo from Venezuela. Percussionist Mauricio Herrara is from Cuba, while Obanilu Allende, Beto Torrens, and Bryant Huffman are from Puerto Rico, as are the singers joining Allen on vocals, Jeremy Bosch and Cheito Quinõnes. Rounding out the band are American trumpeter Jonathan Powell, guitarist Adam Rogers, and saxophonists Chris Creek and Mario Castro (also from Puerto Rico).

“El Diablo and all the songs I wrote for SIMPLE are inspired by my land and the things I miss when I’m away from my roots, away from the coast of Puerto Rico, the feeling of not having to rush and not feeling stress at all, just joy,” says Cole. “I wanted to keep it simple. My focus was on feeling good, on how the musical parts worked together, and how I danced to it. I wanted people to enjoy it and make them feel like dancing and I wanted musicians in the band to enjoy themselves playing it.”

What critics, scholars, and Puerto Rican master musicians are saying about “El Diablo:”

“By removing ‘El Diablo’ from the Cuban Son Montuno, also known as ‘Salsa,’ and placing it on top of one of the many variations of the old Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythm, Cole open his mind to a whole new world of possibilities and he goes to them without fear. You get strong sound of the “Bomba Barriles” ( Puerto Rico’s version, if you will, of the congas, but with a much bigger and richer sound, used to play bomba rhythms.), full rock and jazz sounding guitars, full brass section playing counterpoint and rhythmic melodies and of course, there’s Cole’s beautiful drumming driving the whole band. This is a definitely new look to Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms. You will dig this!” --Gary Nunez, founder of GRAMMY-winning ensemble Plena Libre.