Carmen Gonzalez with her fiery, expressive voice, lives in Quito, Ecuador. At the very beginning of her musical career, she was drawn to the African-influenced enclave of Esmeraldas on the Pacific coast where percussion groups, vocal ensembles and marimba recalling the music of West Africa are all part of the local culture. Carmen GonzalezŒ musical heart then strayed to Cuba. Here, too, in Santiago, she found African musical roots. For her new recordings on this CD, the marimbas forge a link between these related yet geographically distant regions. She sings Salsa and Son with musicians of the Havana Casino line-up hailing from Cuba and Puerto Rico. In Quito she recorded new versions of her hits "Caramba", "Canoera" and "Canoito" with the the group La Legión del Sabor. For the grand finale, producer Christian Scholze bussed in the Koral y Esmeralda ensemble from Esmeraldas to the recording studios in Quito.