Afro Bop Alliance

Caribbean Jazz Project | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 25, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Heads Up
• ASIN: B0013GBD10
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,867 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

The genesis of the project was more organic than top-down conceptual, says Dave Samuels, who first encountered the Afro Bop Alliance a few years ago and enlisted trombonist Dan Drew to rearrange some CJP tunes originally written for the small group setting. "Dan very cleverly and artfully took these songs and orchestrated them for big band," says Samuels. "Then I thought, `Why don't we try to record this and see what happens?' So the whole idea evolved from the music outward, as opposed to the concept coming before the music."

The results were eye-opening, even for the musician who composed the original pieces. "Repackaging something that had been played a lot in a smaller group was a way to see it and hear it 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."

Product Description

The Caribbean Jazz Project-Afro Bop Alliance, set for release on Heads Up International, recasts nine CJP signature pieces - some by composer/vibraphonist Dave Samuels and others by Coltrane, Monk and other jazz luminaries - in a fresh new light via full-bodied arrangements by the Maryland-based Afro Bop Alliance, one of the most exciting new bands on the Latin jazz scene today.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Afro Bop Alliance is big band latin swing, December 16, 2008

By 

Richard D. Guba "tenor sax man" (Annapolis MD) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Afro Bop Alliance (Audio CD)

I bought this album due to a newspaper review about its nomination for a Latin Grammy. It actually won the Latin Grammy and was well deserved. Afro Bop Alliance is a group of mostly Navy Band musicians from Annapolis who team up with Dave Samuels, formerly of Spyro Gyra and with Gerry Mulligan. Dave's group CJP has been around for a while but this is the first pairing of the two groups. The album swings hard and while it is a studio album it sounds like a good live recording with no unnatural overdubs. I recommend this to anyone who likes big band, Maynard Ferguson, Spyro Gyra, or Latin Music. There is good cover of Stolen Moments and other jazz classics. What is not to like?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Winnin' Alliance!, July 29, 2008

By 

Davide Cristante "davec dj" (Italy) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Afro Bop Alliance (Audio CD)

Just great. I listened "Naima" thanks to a on-line broadcast, first time. Immediatly I got no one doubt: I bought this CD. Soon. And I enjoid very much the hot, elegant beauty of the other tunes of this All-Stars album signed with the 'chicano' West-Coast spirit of 70' and 80'. Expecially 'bout "Soul Sauce" (immortal Cal Tjader in my Godness) and the unespectable, incredibly beautiful, "Stolen Moments". Oliver Nelson must be very proud of this version.
Trust im me: I'm a Latin Jazz lover since late 70'... Please get this album.
Davide Cristante

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Stolen Moments" worth the price of admission!, August 3, 2010

By 

Stephen C. Knowles (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Afro Bop Alliance (Audio CD)

My cable TV has a ton of all music stations, jazz being one. I heart this take of "Stolen Moments" after recording an MP3 file straight from the cable audio feed. Unfortunately, I didn't know who the band/artists were, because I wasn't around during the recording to see the screen notes! I've been listening to it on and off for months, and I still get goose bumps from this track (yes, it's that good!). I finally used google to search for "marimba "stolen moments" ", and this album showed up. I will be purchasing the full CD very soon!