AYVA Music was born in Spain in the mid-1990s. Initially, the firm -- its catchy name is the combination of the initials of the company's two founders -- licensed and released previously produced recordings. Two years ago, AYVA decided to start producing its own productions, seeking to create a venue for both artists and audiences that are interested in "real" and not simply "rmanufactured" music. Its initial release, featuring the trio of Boston-based Cuban pianist Aruan Ortiz, led to a fruitful and ongoing relationship with musicians in the fertile Boston music community, many of them affiliated with Berklee as teachers.

"We don't want to close our market to only one style of music," comments Pablo Valero, AYVA's Artistic Director. The Barcelona native uses his Boston base to cultivate local talent and also makes regular visits to New York City to scout out prospective label artists. "Although we are a jazz label, our artists are truly 'globalized,' not only in the sense of their diverse cultural influences, but also in the styles of music that they embody and incorporate in their work. We respect the beauty of diversity and of the sounds that are specific to cultures and people throughout the world. These traditions and history are necessary to create innovation and new sounds based on the mixing and interchange of music and musicians." AYVA releases, Valero notes, will be grounded in jazz but with influences from Africa, South America, Spain, the Middle East and other regions of the globe. "The common thread throughout our recordings," he adds, "is the high quality of the music and musicians; AYVA's artists transcend one specific, narrow genre of music."