New York-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Cochemea releases new album Vol. 3: Ancestros Futuros and final single, “Pyramid of the Sun,” out today via Daptone Records. Cochemea’s record release show will be at National Sawdust on October 11. Ticket link here

Cochemea explains, “The melody for “Pyramid of the Sun” first came to me in a dream — I kept singing it to myself and felt pulled into its circular nature. Around that time I was traveling frequently to Mexico and researching different Native and Mesoamerican concepts of time as cyclical — echoing the melody. The song became a way of holding dream space and the album as a whole together, mapping how sound can mirror patterns of space-time.”

Cochemea has released a series of other singles leading up to today’s release all with deep stories and themes. With his last single, “Otros Mundos,” Cochemea says “I was thinking about world building and [the possibility of other worlds]. I am drawn to the idea and question of what we can bring into reality through imagining, embodiment and collective dreaming.

Vol. 3: Ancestros Futuros is also shaped by stories of survival and resistance. Cochemea, a California native of Yaqui ancestry, begins the album with “Ancestros Futuros,” a song that tells the story of a yaqui midwife who would bury the navels of newborns in the ground so that future generations would rise and reclaim the land. “I was thinking about survival as a continuum connecting past and future generations,” says Cochemea – a theme that echoes throughout his compositions.

Cochemea’s “Omeyocan” means “Place of Duality” in Nahuatl. In Aztec cosmology, Omeyocan is the highest heaven—outside the temporal world, where life and essence originate. Linked to dreams, birth, and the convergence of opposites, it embodies emergence and balance. The track mirrors this duality: beginning with a meditative melody, then shifting into heavy drums and collective singing—moving from inward to communal.

Praise for Vol. 3: Ancestros Futuros:
“…a sonic gift for the Gods.”
– 48 Hills

“Imbued with the fire of Eddie Harris and Yusef Lateef, Cochemea melds rhythm and roil, songs that dig deep into generational scars and inherited celebrations…swerving through funk and jazz with omnivorous joy.”
– Raven Sings the Blues

“Soulful and meditative”
– Joy of Violent Movement

“Brilliant new album”
– Andrew Jervis “The Gathering,” World Wide FM

Vol. 3: Ancestros Futuros, completes a trilogy of albums that include All My Relations (2019) and Vol. 2: Baca Sewa(2021). Across his body of work, Cochemea interweaves the past, present and future, engaging with time as speculative history—one that moves fluidly between memory and possibility.

For Vol. 3: Ancestros Futuros, Cochemea gathered a core group of longtime collaborators—a powerhouse octet of New York City percussionists and members of Daptone’s famed rhythm section. Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann) returned as producer and mixing engineer, capturing the band live to 8-track analog tape.

Vol. 3: Ancestros Futuros is anchored in the cultural fabric that has nurtured Cochemea from the beginning. Cochemea describes a central part of his work as “accessing ancestral memory that comes in different forms— sometimes when you visit a place, sometimes in dreams… it’s in our DNA.”

“For me, it’s about seeking wholeness in these zones of fracture.” Dreams play a vital role in his creative process. “A lot of melodies come to me through dreams,” he shares. “I’ve kept a dream record for years, shaping the language into what I call dream scores.”

Cochemea’s musical and spiritual synthesis is made possible through his reverence for the horn, and the music and traditions that precede him. His distinct voice as a saxophonist and flutist places him within a lineage of players who honor the past while blending dexterity with invention.

Inspired by heroes like Eddie Harris, Yusef Lateef, Jim Pepper, and Gary Bartz, he coaxes his instruments into intimate and expressive realms, bridging ancestral rhythmic traditions with forward-looking vision, to create a signature sound that is both deeply rooted and expansive.

More about Cochemea:

For over 25 years, Cochemea has built a distinct career as a soloist, and composer/arranger, collaborating on stage and in the studio with artists across genres —from his long tenure with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to work with Kevin Morby, Run The Jewels, Jon Batiste, Amy Winehouse, The Roots, Archie Shepp, Mark Ronson, and Quincy Jones, among many others.

Cochemea’s previous releases have been praised by DJs and critics alike. His Daptone debut, All My Relations, was a family reunion of sorts, uniting spirits, musicians, and melodies across time and space. Leading a nine-piece ensemble, he recombined ancient elements—drums, winds, and voice—into a deeply personal meditation on the interconnection of all things. Vol. 2: Baca Sewa expanded this exploration into the archives of family history, mythology, and the cultural imaginary.

Pitchfork called All My Relations “equal parts spiritual journey and irrepressible funk” while Rolling Stone described the record as “cosmic jazz-funk.” MOJO awarded the album four stars, noting “its message of harmony and oneness is universal,” and Downbeat described Vol. 2: Baca Sewa as “radiating like a flower from beginning to end.”

Cochemea recently signed to Red Light Management (Alex Kadvan and Sam Connor) for management and Crossover Touring (Josh Brinkman and Kate Begani) for touring.

Photos by Christopher Baliwas 

Album Tracklist
1. Transmisión del Soñar
2. Otros Mundos
3. Ancestros Futuros
4. Omeyocan
5. Pyramid of the Sun
6. The Land Swallowed Them Whole
7. Seeing
8. Procession of Spirits
9. Chiokoe 

Cochemea on Social Media:
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