With THE CRISIS KNOWS NO BORDERS, the message is clear, but it’s the dynamic, raw, and full-of-life music that grabs you first.
Desafio Candente Records
Gustavo Cortiñas – Drums; Jon Irabagon – Tenor Saxophone; Dave Miller – Guitar; Mark Feldman – Violin
Gustavo Cortiñas doesn’t just write music—he builds bold, urgent conversations into his compositions. On THE CRISIS KNOWS NO BORDERS, he takes on climate change not as a distant threat, but as a shared, immediate crisis that affects everyone, everywhere. It’s an ambitious album with deep grooves, rich textures, and a clear message: we’re all connected, and we all have a role to play.
Recorded before certain shifts in U.S. leadership made international cooperation feel even more fragile, this music now lands with an even heavier sense of urgency. At a time when global challenges require unity and long-term vision, the idea of borders—both physical and ideological—feels more like a roadblock than a solution. Cortiñas leans into that discomfort, asking big questions through layered compositions and an ensemble that mirrors the diversity and interconnectedness the album calls for.
Cortiñas, a Mexican-born drummer now based in Chicago, has a history of making records that ask big questions. DESAFIO CANDENTE (2021) was a sweeping look at colonialism and heritage, and KIND REGARDS (2022) meditated on immigration. Now, with THE CRISIS KNOWS NO BORDERS, Cortiñas turns his attention to the fragility of our planet and the interconnectedness of our shared problems.
The band is sharp, inventive, and unafraid to push the envelope. Feldman’s expressive violin bridges classical and avant-garde. Irabagon swings between wild abandon and hushed sensitivity on the tenor sax. Miller’s guitar moves effortlessly from sharp and tense to unexpectedly warm.
The opener, ‘The Basic Economic Farsity,’ sets the tone with a back-and-forth between Feldman’s urgent bowing and plucking and a squealing guitar and sax. Repeating phrases shift to a rock groove with a nod to Link Wray before slipping back into abstract territory. Beneath this sonic complexity lies a critique of economic systems that prioritize scarcity, funneling resources to the few while leaving many without the essentials.
‘The Growth Imperative’ takes that conversation further, with shifting time signatures and four voices talking over each other, sounding like chaos, but all in tune with something larger. Our economic systems demand endless growth on a planet that can’t sustain it.
The group leans into collective improvisation, moving as a unit rather than trading spotlight moments. That kind of musical empathy makes the album’s central message land with more impact: we’re in this together.
Cortiñas closes the album with ‘Meditation On the End of Times,’ a drum solo that is quietly introspective yet deeply poignant. He employs subtle polyrhythms, building tension without overplaying. The pacing is measured, with pauses that invite reflection. It’s a fitting end to a project rooted in both warning and hope.
Cortiñas has a gift for turning intellectual urgency into music that breathes and moves. With THE CRISIS KNOWS NO BORDERS, the message is clear, but it’s the dynamic, raw, and full-of-life music that grabs you first.
