| Latin Jazz |
“Ruta de la Clave” by Joaquín Núñez: A Dazzling Afro-Cuban Jazz Odyssey That Bridges Centuries and Continents
As the calendar tilts toward summer, the jazz landscape finds itself awash in Latin colors, with May, June, and July promising a wave of Latin-inspired releases, some more compelling than others. Fortunately, the season opens not with a tentative whisper, but with a resounding statement from one of the genre’s most thoughtful craftsmen. Ruta de la Clave, the new album from Cuban-Canadian percussionist, composer, producer, and conductor Joaquín Núñez, is nothing short of a revelation, a project five years in the making, and quite possibly one of the finest Latin jazz albums in recent memory.
Núñez, a Juno Award winner with deep roots in both classical percussion and Cuban folkloric rhythms, delivers an album that is at once deeply traditional and thrillingly modern. While the heart of Ruta de la Clave beats with unmistakable Cuban pulse, it is also a masterclass in jazz fusion, intellectually rich, emotionally charged, and rhythmically spellbinding. Most impressively, Núñez resists the all-too-common temptation among virtuoso percussionists to spotlight his own prowess. Instead, he elevates the ensemble and the music itself, demonstrating the humility and vision that mark a truly great artist.
From the outset, the album impresses with compositions of breathtaking beauty and arrangements of rare sophistication. The rhythm section grooves with infectious precision, while the horn lines and vocals weave layers of color and nuance. As its title suggests, Ruta de la Clave, or “The Route of the Clave”, traces the rhythmic and cultural journey of the clave, the fundamental Afro-Cuban rhythmic cell. The album spans centuries, drawing a vibrant line from the 19th-century contradanza through danzón, changüí, son, and rumba, all the way to their contemporary iterations.
This is not a nostalgic rehashing of folkloric motifs but a bold reimagining. Rooted firmly in tradition yet embracing the harmonic complexity and improvisational freedom of modern jazz, the album creates a rare synthesis. It speaks in multiple languages at once, of heritage and innovation, of sorrow and celebration, of continents long separated but still in dialogue.
What has always distinguished the finest Cuban music is its openness to the world, its ability to absorb elements of classical music, world music, and jazz, and return them transformed. Núñez does this with a level of subtlety and grace that recalls the finest European jazz traditions, but with the unique fire of Havana and Santiago. Ruta de la Clave becomes not just an album, but a bridge between epochs and geographies.
One of the standout tracks, “Una Guajira en New York,” offers a striking musical narrative. Here, the traditional guajira, a genre tied to Cuba’s rural identity, meets the cosmopolitan rush of Manhattan. A young Cuban countrywoman, symbolized musically, finds herself surrounded by piano, trumpet, and saxophone, each instrument pulling her toward something new yet strangely resonant. In contrast, “Suite Columbia” paints a darker, more historical tableau. It tells the story, without words, of an African man forced into slavery and sent to Cuba. Through layered instrumentation, we hear not only loss and dislocation, but also a recognition of familiar tones, a survival of culture through music.
Throughout the album, every solo feels earned, every phrase brimming with invention. There’s a palpable joy in the music-making, a sense that each player is both deeply engaged with the material and in dialogue with the rest of the ensemble. Recorded between 2022 and 2024, Ruta de la Clave is more than a musical offering, it is a manifesto, a celebration, and a reinvention of Afro-Cuban jazz for a new generation.
In recent years, a growing number of Cuban musicians have begun to assert their artistic voices across the Americas, and Núñez stands at the forefront of that movement. His work reminds us not only of Cuba’s staggering musical wealth but of the enduring power of rhythm to connect, to heal, and to inspire.
Ruta de la Clave is a triumph—urgent, radiant, and necessary.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 21st 2025
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Musicians :
Joaquin Núñez: Drums & All Percussion (Vocals 4, 6, 9)
Dayramir Gonzalez Piano & All Keyboards (Vocals 2, 4, 6)
Marta Elena: Lead Vocals (2, 4, 6)
Joanna Majoko: Lead Vocals (7, 9)
Dyalis Núñez-Machado: Vocals ( 2, 4, 6)
Roberto Riveron: Bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8)
Paco Luviano: Bass (5, 9)
Alexander Brown: Trumpet & Flugelhorn (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8)
Jeff King: Tenor Sax (1, 2, 4, 6, 7)
Luis Deniz: Alto Sax Solo (2, 4, 7)
Bill McBirnie: Flute (Tracks 3, 5)
Colleen Allen: Clarinet (8)
Esteban Vargas: Violin & Viola (all tracks)
Mark Daniels: Sound Effects (all tracks)
Tracklist :
Afrocubanas
Mi Changui
Juaco & Day
Ruta De La Clave
Danzon Sin Tumbao
Rumba De Solar
Una Guajira in NY
Nostalgia