Rachel Therrien Latin Jazz Project: Mi Hogar II

A traveling extrovert with a background in Cuban music and a cross-border presence from Montreal to New York City, trumpeter Rachel Therrien makes her albums into open-door parties and writes music not for being seated.

Mi Hogar II is Therrien's second album under the Latin Jazz Project billing and her eighth album as a leader. She plays Frankie's Jazz Club on April 3, 2025, about a year following her last date there around which I spoke with her on the podcast.

I also previously wrote about the first Mi Hogar, released in 2023. Most of Therrien's ensemble members – including the drummer who plays on every track, all the bassists, and many of the pianists and percussionists – return from that record. The big new instrument is the violin of Elizabeth Rodriguez, playing melodies with Therrien and taking jazz solos. (Because she enters the record with only sensitive plucked notes on track two, her emergence later on feels fresh.) Rodriguez has a duo with returning Mi Hogar player Magdelys Savigne called OKAN; they won a Juno in 2021 and were presented by BuckingJam Palace in Calgary last year. In the horn section, Ra Malkiel's trombone and Ivan Renta's saxophone are also strong new voices for the band.

Therrien's previous album was the improvisatory CAPI, dedicated to her poet grandfather. She's done with that excursion for now – we're back home. Indeed, "Back Home" is a typical track by the band that keeps the emphasis on multiple musicians' blowing, instead of just on Therrien herself:

A standout track is the intimate and harmonically static "Orun", based mostly on trumpet and percussion with piano flourishes. My other two favourites are "Fiestas Campesinas" and "Soucy", which feature the driving electric bass playing of John Benitez. On our podcast last year, Therrien shouted out Benitez as an important mentor. He wrote the former of those two pieces; they're also the ones that feature the new horns Malkiel and Renta, as well as Manuel Valera, who is probably my personal favourite Therrien pianist now that Gabriel Chakarji isn't back.

"Sueños de Cambios" is a smooth and straight ballad, while the "Mambo ‘Chucho' Influenciado" is a tribute to the Cuban tradition, arranged by Therrien.

Then there's the song with English and Spanish vocals, "Beauty Free":

The song's inclusion as the closing track is fascinating. Does it speak to Therrien's next move into bilingual (or trilingual with her native French) crossover productions on future albums? Or is it a fun sidecar that creates some additional surface area for audiences to get turned-onto her music? Though Therrien was already talking about the Mi Hogar sequel in the release campaign for the first one, we'll have to keep eyes on her fast-moving career to find out.

released March 7, 2025 | Buy CD (Bandcamp) | available on streaming