Panama-born, Chicago-based drummer Daniel Villarreal offers a compelling read of the trio format on Lados B, an album with LA-based explorers Jeff Parker (guitar) and Anna Butterss (bass). There were glimpses of this lineup on Villarreal’s 2022 debut Panamá 77, but here the trio is heard as a stable unit, putting forward an abstract, lo-fi groove aesthetic with earthy percussive elements. The nods to jazz, soul, dub, ambient, Afrobeat, and other reference points accrue as the album unfolds. The crisp, straight-talking guitar licks, fat electric and acoustic basslines, and shifting combinations of drum set and hand percussion give the set a loose and experimental flavor. Villarreal’s sensibility is rooted in Latin music, DJ culture, and the avant-garde legacy of the AACM in equal measure, whether he’s cooking on all burners with “Republic” or laying down tasty brushes on “Bring It.” Neal Francis plays Rhodes, in the one departure from straight trio, on the chill funk number “Salute.”