DAVID MURRAY CUBAN ENSEMBLE Plays Nat King Cole en Espanol

David Murray Cuban Ensemble

8 and 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 5 and 7 p.m. next Sun.

Yoshi's, 1330 Fillmore St., S.F. (415) 655-5600. www.yoshis.com

About:

While in Cuba six years ago recording an album with his jazz quartet and 10 string players from the Havana Philharmonic, David Murray noticed a photo of Nat King Cole on the studio wall. And, during the visit, Buena Vista Social Club singer Omara Portuondo told the saxophonist that many Cubans have deep affection for the American singer's music, particularly his Spanish-language albums "Cole Español" (1958) and "More Cole Español" (1962).

Cole's decades-old Cuban connection led Murray and his wife and creative collaborator, Valerie Malot, to produce "David Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole en Español," a CD of mostly instrumental treatments of nine songs from the two Cole albums plus one Murray original. Released in the United States last month on the Motema label, the disc was recorded in June 2010 in Buenos Aires with eight Cuban musicians. Strings were added later in Sines, Portugal.