The Caribbean Jazz Project, led by marimba and vibes wiz Dave Samuels, put together this album with Maryland-based outfit Afro Bop Alliance. The vibe here is a distinctly Latin, big-band trip on songs by John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and several Samuels originals. Nineteen musicians played on these tunes (most of them sax and horn players), giving the set a powerful brass/reed sound. Their stellar cover of Coltrane's "Naima" comes our way via a highly syncopated arrangement, nicely layered horns and solid solos from Samuels and saxophonist Steve Williams. Another intriguing number is the Samuels original "Afro Green," a more darkly colored piece with an interesting, dissonant dynamic at work, particularly between the horns and Harry Appelman's piano. —Philip Van Vleck