Keir GoGwilt’s *The Zarabanda Variations* is reviewed as an ambitious and highly original collaborative album that re-examines the colonial Latin American roots of the sarabande, before the dance became associated with European baroque composers. Its fusion of free jazz, baroque strings, percussion and spoken-word poetry creates a challenging but compelling alternative to familiar classical interpretations, using the dance’s history to produce something distinctly new.

The 10-piece ensemble includes singer Mariana Flores Bucio and poet Edgar Garcia, whose interludes add historical and literary texture, though sometimes obscurely. Highlights include the riotous jazz-guitar-led *Matachín*, the Mexican-influenced *Otra Llorona*, and *Tonada Americana*, which blends a 17th-century Hispanic dance rhythm with frenetic atonal violin; the reviewer praises the musicianship and scope despite the album’s difficulty.