Yasser Tejeda is an award-winning Dominican composer, guitarist, vocalist, and producer. According to the Chicago Reader, Yasser’s “elegantly polished compositions contain a fascinating, delicate interplay of past and present…underlined by raw, ancestral music meant to move bodies and bring about communion,” while Juan Luis Guerra, the most influential Dominican artist in the world, praised his mission calling it a “marvelous example of what’s happening with Dominican music.” Tejeda just released his third studio album, La Madrugá. His latest single, Todo Va a Marchar, premiered at New Sounds with Jon Schaefer calling it, an upbeat song driven by the rolling and incisive guitar sounds that seem to come from classic 70s Afropop.” Musically, Yasser’s inspiration for the concept of La Madrugá was awakened while listening to traditional chants, genres, and styles that were either developed or adopted as traditions from the Dominican Republic’s African ancestry. His goal was to implement centennial Dominican traditions like Los Congos del Espíritu Santo de Villa Mella, La Sarandunga de Baní, La Salve de San Cristóbal, etc., unto the experimental fusion of merengue, jazz, and rock. His catalog is cemented by two previous albums, Kijombo (2019) and Mezclansa (2009), and an acoustic EP titled Interior. Mezclansa was dubbed one of the “100 essential recordings of Dominican music” by the Dominican National Association of Art Writers (Acroarte). His second album Kijombo received six awards from Dominican Republic’s Premios Indie, including Best Album. Yasser’s versatility as a guitarist has also landed him features on praised albums and recordings with artists like Vicente Garcia, Flor de Toloache feat. Miguel, Sotomayor, and Alex Ferreira, just to mention a few. Yasser’s hope is to incite an awakening so new generations will be inspired to explore, promote and uplift their roots.