Recorded at New York City’s famed Electric Lady Studios, EL Diablo (EspirItu Burlon)features Cole’s 14 piece band of jazz and folkloric musicians with special guest vocalist Tito Allen in a re-conception of “El Diablo”, a 1973 Ray Barretto classic.

NEW YORK CITY—Drummer Henry Cole, renowned for his powerful and inventive work with jazz luminaries such as Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez and Gary Burton, has released El Diablo (Espiritu Burlon), the first song from Simple, the long-awaited follow up his critically acclaimed 2012 debut as Henry Cole and the Afrobeat Collective, Roots Before Branches. The new song embraces Cole’s vision of 21st Century Puerto Rican music, encompassing a wide range of global influences from folkloric rhythms to jazz, rock and funk.

Diablo was written by the iconic Puerto Rican songwriter Rafael Hernández nearly 80 years ago and was made famous by

legendary percussionist Ray Barretto on his 1973 Fania Records album Indestructible. Singer Tito Allen was the lead singer in Barretto’s band at the time, and he repeats that role here.

EL Diablo - Credits

Henry Cole – Drums

Tito Allen – Lead Vocals

Luis Perdomo – Fender Rhodes

Adam Rogers - Electric Guitar 1

Guilherme Monteiro - Electric Guitar 2

Panagiotis Andreou – Electric Bass

Jonathan Powell - Trumpet

Mario Castro – Tenor Saxophone

Chris Cheek – Baritone Saxophone

Obanilu Allende - Barril, Cuban Guiro

Alberto “Beto” Torrens - Barril

Bryant Huffman - Chekere

Mauricio Herrera – Cowbell

Jeremy. Bosch - Coro

José “Cheito” Quinõnes - Coro

Obanilu Allende – Coro

Co-Produced by

Phil Joly & Jason Lindner

Recording Engineer -Phil Joly

Assistant Engineer - Vyra Biramji

Mixing Engineer- Michael Brauer

Assistant Engineer-Steve Vealey

& Fernando Reyes

Mastering Engineer -Joe LaPorta

Cover Photo- Melvin Audaz

Cover Design – Abdiel Flores

Gaffer-William Vargas

Assistant-Nicole Martinez

Lyrics transcription and English translation by Elvira Asensi