• Track Listing

"Estrellero 2" is the follow-up album to "Estrellero" released in July 2023.

It is accepted for creative artists to tug on the reigns of the expected. In the worlds of jazz and contemporary music, musicians are instructed to respect the conventional parameters of the genre they learn. But it is for the musicians to push the limits of the rules in order to make new discoveries. The trio of Leo Genovese, Demian Cabaud, and Marcos Cavaleiro take such an unbridled approach to music making on their new recording, Estrellero.

Argentinean pianist Leo Genovese met his fellow countryman, bassist Demian Cabaud, while they both attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Their twenty-year friendship has never diminished, even as Cabaud settled in Porto, Portugal. It was in Portugal, that the duo met drummer Marcos Cavaleiro, a perfect musical match to Genovese and Cabaud.

The three musicians have developed a deep trust born from years of camaraderie, a feeling that brings comfort on the bandstand through their intuitive approach to group performance. The rarity of their meetings was magnified by the pandemic, leaving the triumvirate dreaming of getting together again. Once the travel restrictions were lifted, Genovese made sure to return to his friends in Portugal to perform and record.

Genovese and Cabaud were introduced to the idea of the estrellero by an Argentinean gaucho friend, Orlando Vera Cruz. An estrellero is a horse that can never be fully trained and, even when harnessed, continues to pull away, typically looking up toward the stars. The musicians found this a perfect metaphor for their musical journey, always being tethered to the rules of music but trying to look beyond and race ahead.