Canadian rumba flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook will release his new album, past the breakwater, on Sept. 18 through Coach House Music, distributed by Believe, as the veteran musician prepares for an extensive North American tour stretching into 2027.
The 10-track album follows the singles “forever” and “you were looking north” and finds the Paris-born, Toronto-raised guitarist moving further toward his jazz influences. Cook’s Forever Live Tour begins Sept. 19 in Quebec and includes a major Ontario appearance at Casino Rama in Orillia on Nov. 27.
‘past the breakwater’ Draws on Cook’s Jazz Influences
Cook has spent three decades blending flamenco guitar with jazz, classical and world music. For his latest project, he looked toward quieter jazz recordings that have remained part of his listening habits.
“As a music lover, there’s a category of music I have always listened to on rainy days, or late nights with friends. Albums like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and Round Midnight, Getz/Gilberto (Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto), Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert. Albums you can put on and live in. Quiet albums. Albums that breathe.”
That approach led Cook to simplify some of the arrangements and place greater emphasis on individual instruments.
“I wanted to leave more space in these recordings,” Cook explains. “So, some of these songs are just Spanish guitar and double bass. I wanted to be able to hear every note, every articulation.”
Remote Canadian Island Shapes Album’s Sound
Much of past the breakwater was recorded in a cabin on a remote island in the lake country of the Canadian Shield. Accessible only by boat, the location provided both the album’s title and the atmosphere Cook wanted for the recording sessions.
“The stillness there is protected by rows of ancient shoals,” he says. “Like prehistoric sentinels, a breakwater against the storms that lay beyond. Sometimes I need to get away from everything, so I can just get lost in the music.”
Cook composed, arranged, produced, recorded and mixed the album himself. Chris Gehringer handled mastering at Sterling Sound.
Longtime collaborators Marito Marques contributed drums and percussion, Will Lamoureux performed strings and violin, and Ross MacIntyre played double bass. Cellist Jill Sauerteig appears on “forever.”
New Record Extends a Three-Decade International Career
Cook has developed an international following since establishing his rumba flamenco sound, performing in markets ranging from London and Milan to Los Angeles and Montreal.
According to figures provided with the album announcement, his catalogue had accumulated 1.164 billion combined streams and views as of March 2026. That total included 425 million Pandora streams, 175 million views from Instagram user-generated content, 155 million YouTube views and 145 million Spotify streams.
His online audience also includes 661,000 Instagram followers, 307,000 YouTube subscribers and 299,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
The new album contains 10 tracks: “forever,” “you were looking north,” “past the breakwater,” “life in e minor,” “easton revisited,” “the secret shape of things,” “eleven unnecessary turns,” “floating on the silence,” “my beautiful exile” and “long shadows and small mercies.”
Forever Live Tour Opens in Quebec
Cook will begin the Forever Live Tour one day after the album’s release, starting Sept. 19 at Théâtre de Lac-Brome in Lac-Brome, Que.
The initial Canadian leg includes stops in Quebec City, Longueuil, Sainte-Geneviève, Sainte-Thérèse, L’Assomption, Sherbrooke, Mont-Laurier, Terrebonne, Gatineau and Saint-Hyacinthe.
Casino Rama Concert Set for November
Following the Quebec dates, Cook will head to the northeastern United States in November for performances in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
He returns to Canada on Nov. 27 for a concert at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ont.
The tour resumes in January with an extensive western U.S. itinerary, including stops in Portland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, Tucson, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Denver. Additional concerts in Florida and Georgia are planned for the spring, with further Canadian and European dates expected later in 2027.
With past the breakwater, Cook is pairing a more restrained, jazz-influenced studio approach with one of the most extensive touring schedules of his recent career. The album arrives Sept. 18, followed immediately by a tour designed to carry the Canadian guitarist’s latest material to audiences across North America and beyond.