Puerto Rican drummer Henry Cole has played with some of the biggest names in Jazz, but he also has a remarkable solo project that's garnered him glowing praise from the New York Times, NPR and many jazz and world music writers. Cole will be bringing his Afro-Beat Collective to Chicago's Mayne Stage for the first time on Thursday, December 13.

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Quicksilver Puerto Rican drummer Henry Cole knows how Wayne Shorter might have jammed with Fela Kuti. Or what Miles would have done if only he’d gone Afro-Caribbean with his rock-jazz hybrids. He hears how jazz can grab the rootsy sounds of bomba, plena, and Cuban rumba,and sparkle with electro sheen and rock energy.

He hears it, because these sonic roots have been intertwining in Puerto Rico for hundreds of years. “If I had been a Puerto Rican musician playing a few centuries ago, I would have had the same kinds of influences: African, indigenous, European,” Cole explains. “They’ve come together to create mestizo sounds forever, and I’m just carrying that forward.”