Under the direction of guitarist Pablo Menendez, Mezcla has been a part of the soundtrack of the Cuban music scene for the past thirty years. Mezcla brings together several veteran masters with some the best of young players on the scene today. When at home in Cuba they perform regularly at Havana's premier jazz club La Zorra y el Cuervo and at the annual Havana Jazz Festival (Jazz Plaza). Mezcla's music is a genuine celebration of the culture and musical roots of the Pearl of the Antilles. A ray of Havana sunshine that inspired Carlos Santana to call them “the cleanest, freshest water I have ever tasted!"
Mezcla has issued nine recordings. Their legendary 1993 release Cantos, re-released in 2014, featured the late Lázaro Ros, one of Cuba's foremost singers of Afro-Cuban Yoruba santería chants. Their CD Akimba!, was pre-nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002 and their 2010 release, I'll See You in C-U-B-A (ZOHO), was nominated for the Best of Latin Jazz Awards as were several of the group's soloists. In 2014 Mezcla released live concert DVD titled Pablo Menendez & Mezcla Todos Estrellas del Jazz Cubano (Colibri) and in February of 2015 they released the CD Pure Mezcla recorded live at Yoshi’s jazz club in Oakland California during their 2013 U.S. tour. Mezcla’s animated video clip “See you in C.U.B.A.”, created by Juan Padrón and Ernesto Padrón was a finalist for the prestigious Lucas Awards in 2016.
This residency was supported with a grant from the Fine Arts Diversity Committee's Guest Artist Initiative.