CARIBBEAN JAZZ PROJECT
Paraiso (Concord Jazz)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Vibraphonist Dave Samuels (of Spyro Gyra) originally formed Caribbean Jazz Project with jazz steel drummer Andy Narell and saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera and planned to record music reminiscent of different locales in the Caribbean. The steel drums, I would think, would do the lion's share of painting on those canvases. The music on this CD, while quite beautiful and relaxing, simply doesn't transport me to any of those islands. The reason? No Narell, no D'Rivera. The core group is now Samuels, guitarist Steve Khan and flutist Dave Valentin. They receive plenty of percussion help to make it all sound very Latin, just not Caribbean. The decision to cover Coltrane ("Naima") and Ellington ("Caravan") doesn't help. Closing with a cover of Mongo Santamaria's "Obaricoso/Ritmos, Colores, y Sentidos," Caribbean Jazz Project reaches Cuba and that's the closest they come to the target. This is a surprisingly free and wild track, dominated by the percussionists but danced playfully by Samuels on marimba and Ruben Rodriguez on bass. It's a thrilling close to something I had hoped would be something other than it was. Taken without expectations, Paraiso contains extremely pretty music, exotic, well played and probably worth your time if you don't mind a 65 minute calm before a four minute storm. As long as you don't expect the calm to take place in, say, Trinidad, you won't want your money back.

© 2001 - DJ Johnson