Caribbean Jazz Project-Afro Bop Alliance Big Band

The Caribbean Jazz project unites with the Maryland-based Afro Bop Alliance for the release of the aptly titled Caribbean Jazz Project – Afro Bop Alliance, set for release on Heads Up in March 2008. The album recasts nine CJP signature pieces – by Samuels, Coltrane, Monk and Oliver Nelson – in a fresh new light via full-bodied arrangements as played by the Afro Bop Alliance Big Band. This collaborations is one of the most exciting new sounds on the Latin jazz scene today.


“Repackaging something that I had played a lot in a smaller group made me hear the music in a new light,” says Samuels. “You react differently to it. It’s a different ball game. It’s the difference between playing on a five-man team and a fifteen-man team. And if you’re the listener, you may have heard these tunes with the small group, but it’s a completely different experience hearing it with this big band.”

Over the course of eight acclaimed recordings, a Grammy Award and two Grammy nominations, the inventive Caribbean Jazz Project has blended scintillating rumbas, sambas, boleros and cha-chas with the uncut spirit of jazz improvisation. As the leader of this continually evolving entity, Samuels explains: “Caribbean defines part of what we do, and jazz defines the other part.”

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HUCD 3137 (053361313722)
THE CARIBBEAN JAZZ PROJECT WITH THE AFRO-BOP ALLIANCE BIG BAND

Led by vibraphonist Dave Samuels, the Caribbean Jazz Project has been crafting brilliant Afro-Caribbean sounds since the mid -1990s. More than a decade after recording their earliest albums on Heads Up International, Samuels and company return to the label and unite with the Maryland-based Afro-Bop Alliance Big Band, the seven-piece Latin jazz collective that has garnered high praise from critics since Encarnación, their 2004 debut recording. Produced by Samuels with arrangements by Afro Bop Alliance trombonist Dan Drew, The Caribbean Jazz Project Afro-Bop Alliance showcases material from CJP’s seven previous recordings spanning 15-years, yet recasts each tune via innovative and full-bodied arrangements. Catch this musical match made in heaven and hear the Caribbean Jazz Project like you’ve never heard them before. (Mike Wilpizeski)

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