One of the most fertile interfaces in 20th century music was the one between the jazz and Afro-Cuban traditions – what Jelly Roll Morton termed the Spanish tinge. Cuban-born pianist Elio Villafranca here leads a heavyweight New York group (including trumpeter Terell Stafford and saxophonist Greg Tardy) through a live set of his own compositions, which delve into that history, bringing the rhythmic muscularity of a Cuban percussion section to tunes that are steeped in the post-bop tradition. It's a bold statement from an emerging star of the uptown scene; it's a fascinating examination of what Villafranca re-titles the "Caribbean tinge"; but above all, it's a high-octane blowing session with some front-rank New York players, not least the leader himself. eliovillafranca.net