Alfredo Balcacer is a guitarist and educator from the Dominican Republic. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance from Utah State University and a Master's Degree in Music Performance at Western Michigan University. After coming to the United States, he has studied privately with Corey and Mike Christiansen, Fareed Haque, Tom Knific, among others. Alfredo has performed in the U.S., Brazil, Canada and the Dominican Republic, and has taught guitar privately for more than 15 years.

A former member of award-winning groups such a Gold Company, Utah State University Jazz Orchestra, Western Michigan University Jazz Orchestra and Mas Que Nada Latin Ensemble, Alfredo was also a recipient of scholarships from the Dominican Republic Ministry of Education, Utah State Caine College of the Arts and the WMU Department of Music. 

As part of several music college ensembles, Alfredo has performed with artists such as Peter Erskine, Gene Bertoncini, Randy Brecker, George Garzone, Peter Eldridge, Jeremy Siskind, and Deborah Brown. He has attended and performed at the master classes of John Scofield, Chico Pinheiro, Julian Lage, Peter Bernstein, and Philip Catherine. In the Dominican Republic, he performed or recorded with artists such as Los Hermanos Rosario, Vakero, Otoniel Nicolas, Guy Frometa, Juan Francisco Ordóñez, Josean Jacobo, Esar Simo, Los Rayo Solares, Diego Mena, and many more. 

The concept behind the album was to write music inspired by my experiences as an immigrant in the United States, incorporating elements from the music that I grew up listening to. Transcriptions from Dominican percussion patterns were adapted to the drum set and bass. The goal for this process was to hear the interpretation of these patterns from musicians of the United States. I was looking to create new colors and textures within the jazz palette. Some of the incorporated styles were Ga-ga, Palo and Bachata.