A personal note from Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer: "We are extremely pleased to present the first video from our new CD "Playing With Fire" – Check it out on YouTube here:

The piece we chose is TOMORROW as it has an uplifting narrative. 

It features our violinist 20-year-old Daniela Olano, the newest member of Maqueque as the Actor.

The second star of the video is me, playing the apparition. The mask l am wearing is from the Embera people, the indigenous people in Panama on the Chagres River. This came about when we were playing at the invitation to Danilo Perez’s Panama Jazz Fest.

Playing With Fire could refer to the feeling emanating from any member of Maqueque, the all-women band formed by veteran Toronto jazz musician Jane Bunnett with young female grads of the Cuban conservatory.

Check it out on YouTube here:

 A decade ago, Bunnett met the core of the band at a jam session with her band Spirits of Havana, at the Cohiba Hotel in that city. Ten years later, Maqueque has created opportunities for composing and performing extraordinary jazz that has taken the pioneering ensemble around the world. It has expanded to include not only women players from Cuba, but also the brilliant vocalist Joanna Majoko (from Zimbabwe) and musicians from the Dominican Republic, Latin America, Spain and Lebanon.