Francisco Mela

Francisco Mela, a jazz drummer born in Cuba, stays in steady demand as both a live performer and session player by fusing his command of Cuban traditions with jazz and modern approaches. He entered the world in Bayamo, Cuba in 1968, where he trained on piano and drums before enrolling at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 2000. His command of Cuban repertoire and polished jazz technique quickly drew notice from the faculty, prompting the school to shift him from student to instructor. In 2001 he toured with Jane Bunnett’s Spirit of Havana and soon afterward entered saxophonist Joe Lovano’s band alongside bassist Esperanza Spalding. Additional engagements followed with pianists Kenny Barron and McCoy Tyner. Mela issued his first solo recording, Melao, in 2006; the album included Lovano plus guitarist Lionel Loueke, saxophonists Anat Cohen and George Garzone, and further guests. Two years later he delivered the live set Cirio: Live at the Blue Note, performing with saxophonist Mark Turner and pianist Jason Moran. Drawing on earlier influences that included Miles Davis’s band featuring keyboardists Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea, the fusion ensemble Weather Report, and Chucho Valdés with Irakere, Mela and his group Cuban Safari brought out the studio album Tree of Life in 2011.