With a mind-blowing CV, especially as sideman, the Panamanian Brooklyn-raised bassist Santi Debriano should really be better known. Among the many high profile artists he has worked with since the late 1970s include the likes of Archie Shepp and Sam Rivers. With his diverse musical interests, he's also not a leader that likes resting on his laurels. Debriano's sextet on the new album Flash of the Spirit traces the latin-American folk and dance roots of his heritage through hard bop and other retro groove-jazz idioms. This is evidenced by his ensemble's faithful interpretations of Kenny Dorham's ‘La Mesha’ and Kenny Barron's ‘Voyage’ while Ornette Coleman's ‘Humpty Dumpty’ reveals his more progressive modernist credentials. On originals too Debriano's effervescent, rich-toned bass lines provide a stimulating springboard for a personnel that includes flautist Andrea Brachfeld, who was mentored by the likes of Jimmy Heath, Yusef Lateef and Eddie Daniels. Brachfeld's airy tone and liquid phrasing evokes the soul jazz soundworld in a frontline that includes the wiry Cannonball Adderley-influenced, ex-Young Lion Justin Robinson on alto sax. While the bassist's rhapsodic chamber-jazz duet with pianist Bill O'Connell has a less engaging haziness about it and a post-bossa-inspired acoustic piece sends things into temporary chill-out mode, there's no getting away from this session's soulful enthusiasm.