Fans of Cuban music, now impatiently awaiting the October 10 visit of Ibrahim Ferrer and his Buena Vista Social Club associates, should be delighted they will get a shot of musical mojito next month.
The first act in the encouragingly star-studded Leisure and Cultural Services Department's summer-long Jazz Up programme is the Rubalcaba/ Sanchez Quartet, appearing at City Hall Concert Hall on July 23.
This, as you would expect, is a jazz rather than 'son' programme, but in Cuba the two overlap, and the lineup includes two of the island's finest exponents of whatever style they care to turn their hands to.
Pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba is best known for an association with bassist Charlie Haden that began in 1986 with a chance meeting in Havana, and led to the acclaimed early 1990s Blue Note albums Discovery and The Blessing. More recently, on Verve, the two collaborated on Haden's The Montreal Tapes with Paul Motian, and the bassist's Latin collection, Nocturne, which they co-produced and which picked up a Grammy last year.
They make a terrific partnership. The impressionistic Keith Jarrett side to Rubalcaba's playing complements the searching quality of much of Haden's best bass work, while the rhythmic feel he developed playing in Havana bars - while pursuing an education in classical piano and composition during the day - anchors the music firmly in a Cuban groove.
This time Haden - who appeared in Hong Kong with his Quartet West a couple of years ago - sadly isn't along for the ride, although the bass slot will be more than capably filled by another Cuban player, Armando Gola, who joined Rubalcaba's regular trio last year.
Drummer Ignacio Berroa, who completes the trio and played on Supernova for which Rubalcaba won a Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album, however, will be present, and is a star in his own right.