Paris-born, Toronto-raised guitarist Jesse Cook is known for his special mixture of flamenco and jazz flavored with special world music. This musician takes the term world music literally.

For his previous album The Rumba Foundation (2009) he flew down to Colombia and worked with a group called Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto. Another album One World (2015) is focused on Constantinople, the ancient name of the modern Turkish city Istanbul.

His newest project is entitled Libre (2021). Written and recorded during the pandemic, Libre comes from that feeling of yearning for freedom. Jesse Cook used music and songwriting as an escape from the uncertain outside world.  When he was in Grade 10, Jesse rented a Roland TR808 drum machine for a basement recording session and quickly became captivated by the other-worldly quality of the sounds. Years later, the 808 has come to define many of forms of music – from hip hop, to rap, pop, reggaetón, and trap. Now, pulling inspiration from these styles and sounds, Jesse has been able to incorporate it into his own music. It may seem like a drastic shift for Jesse to record an album dominated by 808 beats, but as he says, “it feels like I’m coming full circle… it’s a bit like coming home.”

Buy the album here.