INTRODUCTION
Our never-ending mission to reveal the under-appreciated-yet-worthy-of-attention jazz masters around the world has now taken us far away and across the sea to Mexico. Not the first port of call you’d consider if you were looking for hard bop or modal jazz, but here we have found an incredible jazz drummer whose career has spanned over 5 decades, and is still playing to this day. In that time Tino Contreras has produced countless recordings, played on innumerable live dates, and has performed with various jazz groups all around the world. Yet he is still relatively unknown, and probably Mexico’s best kept secret in jazz.

We tell the story of the maverick that is Tino Contreras and showcase his unique and fascinating career with 16 tracks, a 12 page colour CD booklet and a double gatefold LP.

THE MUSIC
During his far-reaching travels over the years, all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds have come to influence the music of the imaginative Mexican jazzman. Hear latinesque ritual chants in Orfeo en los Tambores, insane percussion in the high-tempo jazz-dance favourite What is This Thing Called Love, avant-garde experimentation with a psychedelic subframe in Orbita, exotic waltz-time jazz in Visnu and religiously-themed chamber jazz with choir in Credo, Santo and Gloria. Not only that, but noted influences from India, Egypt, Turkey and Brasil create a most fascinating jazz album, the likes of which you will most likely never have heard before. Enjoy!