Yasser Tejeda boldly reimagines Afro-Dominican roots music

Brooklyn-based Dominican composer and guitarist Yasser Tejeda has explored myriad ways to mesh Afro-Dominican roots music with sophisticated modern arrangements while maintaining its cultural authenticity. On his three albums, most recently 2023’s La Madruga , he pulls threads from both sides of the Atlantic. At times, you can hear rippling, rhythmic echoes of joyful Congolese soukous woven into beats played by the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos de Villa Mella (a long-running Dominican ensemble that UNESCO has declared part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity). Other moments nod to Haitian kompa, flirt with Nigerian Afrobeat, or evoke New Orleans’s hot, bluesy jazz. Working with an ensemble that includes guitar, bass, drums, and percussion, Tejeda creates musi