LOS HOMBRES CALIENTES is a musical, cultural, and historical mission founded on the principle that all people are one - that all of our intricate individual ancestry leads back to one source. With each album, New Orleans-based percussionist Bill Summers (Headhunters, Herbie Hancock) and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield excavate the musical planet and offer up visceral encounters with musical archaeology.

The group's multifunctional records display the results of their field research (that's why they're called "volumes") and the highest level of performance. Their self-titled debut album (Basin Street Records, 1998) starts the musical journey at the band's Ground Zero, New Orleans, drawing from Afro-Cuban and jazz traditions with a mix of originals and Afro-Cubanized standards. Volume 2 (1999) explored Cuban music, where are found the interstices of Latin, Caribbean, and jazz sounds. Volume 3: New Congo Square (2001) was recorded in New Orleans, Havana, Santo Domingo, and Bahia to delve into rumba, merengue, bossa nova, reggae, and funk. Volume 4: Vodou Dance (2003) focuses on the vibrant traditions of "Vodou." Recorded in Haiti, Trinidad, Cuba, Jamaica, and New Orleans, the album continues to connect the musical dots of the African American diaspora.

With this series of world music recordings, Los Hombres Calientes aims to further a cultural exchange between New Orleans and the Caribbean that will provide all those who listen with a greater understanding of the things that connect us, both culturally and musically.