“A vital component of the London scene for the past few years”. (Soho Radio).

In the 10 years he spent with the band Sierra Maestra he mastered the art of Cuban improvisation, arranging and complex rhythms from the island, whilst touring their music in more than 50 countries. In 2010, they were nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Album, which included several of Yelfris’ arrangements. Due to his versatility and improvisation abilities he has been requested to play with big international stars from the likes of Madonna, The Clash and Michael Kiwanuka to multi-Grammy award winning pianist Chucho Valdés, stars from the Buena Vista Social Club Omara Portuondo and Guajiro Mirabales and the last edition of African Express with Damon Albarn, Rokia Traoré amongst others. His time in London has seen him collaborate with some of the finest UK musicians from Mobo award winning drummer Moses Boyd and pioneering grime MC Kano to highly lauded producer Quantic, he also recorded on the Yussef Kamaal project with Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Records which went on to become the best-selling jazz album in the UK for generations shining an international light on this new wave of UK jazz musicians

Photography by Angel Romo.