Original Cast Recording of WE HAVE IRE Announced, Featuring Music By Afro-Cuban Jazz Artist Yosvany Terry

The original stage production We Have Iré recounts the stories of four Cuban-born artists who, after having immigrated and established a life in San Francisco, return to Cuba together. IRE Records announces the release of a cast album featuring new music from Grammy-winning Jazz artist Yosvany Terry on September 18.

The album features Terry's original score from the stage production and monologues that reveal the lives and experiences of the central Cuban-born artists. We Have Iré was written by Cuban American poet, playwright, and performance artist Paul S. Flores-who lent his personal story to the play along with Yosvany Terry, Hip-Hop artist DJ Leydis, and dancer Ramon Ramos Alayo. The artists and creative team will be present in a Facebook livestream celebration and talkback on September 18, at 4:30 p.m.PDT/ 7:30 p.m. EDT-which will also feature a making-of video by Amílcar Navarro.

Both the cast recording and stage production draw from vivid stories of reinvention through immigration as told by Cuban artists which include: DJ Leydis' account of taking to the sea in an overcrowded motorboat to pursue her dream of being a Hip-Hop DJ, and dancer Ramon Ramos Alayo recalling his childhood in the countryside of Santiago de Cuba and then being sent to learn ballet and modern dance in Havana.

The album's 12 tracks underscore the emotional arc of the We Have Iré's stories and feature the Cuban jazz idiom that Yosvany Terry is known for which incorporates traditional Yoruba songs and hip-hop. The We Have Iré cast album was recorded at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio by Terry's quartet consisting of first-call New York musicians: Javi Santiago (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), and Mark Whitfield, Jr. (drums/percussion), with a special guest turn by legendary Cuban diva Xiomara Laugart and performances by Christin Eve Cato and Denmis Bain. Additional recording was done in June at Patio de Ochún Studio in Alameda, CA.

"I wanted the ancestors and the musical traditions of Cuba to shine throughout," says Paul S. Flores of his decision to collaborate with composer Yosvany Terry. 'Camagüey Blues' and 'Idea Of Harlem' lead us through the naïveté and struggles of the characters to the dazzling destiny realized by these talented immigrant artists. By the time we hear the song 'Subversive' (download available) we feel like we have survived the storm, arrived on the beach, ready to face the next challenge."

The We Have Iré original stage production was directed by Rosalba Rolón, Artistic Director of Pregones/PRTT. The production was commissioned and sponsored by a Who's Who of contemporary American theater, including the National Performance Network (NPN), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco, Pregones/PRTT in New York City, GALA Theatre in Washington D.C., Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) in San José, MECA-Houston, Miami Light Project in Miami, Creative Capital, Creative Work Fund, the MAP Fund and Center for Cultural Innovation.

LIVESTREAM AND ALBUM RELEASE DETAILS

The We Have Iré Original Cast Recording will be available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and other digital platforms Sep 18, 2021. Meet the cast, creative team and representatives for the producers at a Livestream via Facebook @miamilightproject @pregones/PRTT @MACLAarte @YBCA on September 18 at 4:30pm PST/ 7:30 pm EDT. A making-of video created by filmmaker Amílcar Navarra will also be streamed.