Roots to Hold Close, Wings to Set Free

abian Almazan left Cuba with his parents, fleeing an oppressive atmosphere, when he was only nine years old. Approximately 23 years later, a two-pronged purpose brought the celebrated pianist back. “Terence Blanchard was performing at a festival in Cuba,” the longtime Blanchard sideman explains. “But I was planning on going anyway because of a Jerome Foundation grant that I had received to record the endemic birds in Cuba, and”