The Mexican romantic trio - three suave male voices backed by two or three guitars and singing romance-drenched lyrics in lush harmony - rocketed to pan-Latin popularity in 1948 with the pioneering group Trío Los Panchos. Los Tres Reyes (The Three Kings), known as "the last of the great trios," epitomize the trio sound and continue to make it a mainstay of Mexican acoustic music. High-voice Cuban singer Bebo Cárdenas joins founding members Gilberto and Raúl Puente to show us how, in Cárdenas words, "The trío romántico is synonymous with intimacy."

Romancing the Past, the new album from Trio Los Reyes on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, was released on March 27th, 2012.