The sleeve notes present this album as a tribute to Cuban-born drummer, composer and musical director Dafnis Prieto's influences and inspirations. Powerful passages of overlapping brass, knitting needle percussion and precision bass certainly flag up latin jazz greats. But, as well as being busy in latin jazz, drummer Prieto has worked with the likes of featured guests Henry Threadgill and Steve Coleman since moving to New York in 1999, and this is reflected in a homage that is contemporary and wide-ranging. The album opens conventionally enough with ‘Una Vez Mas’, a high-energy Afro-Cuban romp referencing the piano figures of Eddie Palmieri and featuring flamenco inflections and a svelte solo from guest trumpeter Brian Lynch. But the following ‘The Sooner the Better’ sets orthodoxy aside with double-bass ruminating over single-note piano, a shimmering tapestry of brass and a stonking Brecker-influenced solo from Peter Apfelbaum on tenor sax. As the set unfolds, Chris Cheek introduces ‘Out of the Bone’ with curls of warm and airy baritone sax – the composition settles on a latin groove, breaks down to a drum solo in 5/4 and rides out on a jittery high. Later, pianist Manuel Valera sets up ‘Prelude Para Rosa’ with rippling piano over a pulse of swing and ‘Danzonish Potpourri’ splices together a melange of latin styles with sensitivity and finesse. Both guest alto saxophonists deliver highlights. Steve Coleman works his magic on the pulse-switching ‘Song for Chico’ and Henry Threadgill quivers and declaims over the sultry rhythms and rich orchestrations of ‘Back to the Sunset’. The album ends with the tempo switching fire of ‘The Triumphant Journey’, a fitting description of this uplifting, complex and multi-faceted CD.