To call this ambitious might risk implying some kind of noble failure, but its highly successful realisation minimises the implied difficulties of the concept. Cuban-born, NYC-based Villafranca’s 95-minute suite is inspired by the story of Joseph Cinqué, who led a slave revolt while being transported on the ship Amistad (also the premise of the Spielberg movie of that name). But its aim is also to interpret the African elements in the music of not only Cuba, but Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Jamaica so, as well as invigorating original material, Villafranca also weaves in a few very African-sounding field recordings of singers and drummers in Cuba and Haiti. The jazz performances constituting the majority of the material carry huge conviction, with the relatively small horn-section sounding much bigger, while the solos are uniformly top-drawer (Marsalis has only two). The brief bits of narration could perhaps have been omitted on disc, but they contribute to the feeling of an ‘event’, while there are several elements deserving of further analysis or explication, such as subliminal orchestrated quotations from Horace Silver and Thelonious Monk. There’s not only food for thought here, there’s also a significant and exciting jazz album.