Jazz Project is a zesty gumbo

Jazz vibraphonist Dave Samuels says that the name of the musical group Caribbean Jazz Project sounds like something from a poster, with suntan vacationers sitting on the beach holding iced drinks.

But that would be a misimpression, according to Samuels, who founded the group 13 years ago. "The direction of the music of the Caribbean Jazz Project and the origin of the name is really about exploring the part of the world where the three main (music) influences kind of mixed together.

"One was certainly the indigenous music of that part of the world. The other was music from Western European music in all its formality. And West African music. And all of those kind of came together in this very unlikely spot, for a whole variety of reasons."

The music then moved north to the United States, through New Orleans and then south into Central and South America. "Those are kind of the influences that we deal with in terms of the music that we play."

Three of the group's CDs have received Grammy nominations — and one, "The Gathering," won a Grammy award in 2002 as Best Latin Jazz Album.

Samuels said the Grammy was particularly meaningful since it came from within the music community rather than from critics or others who are "associated with the music kind of in a fringe way."

"You can't be a member of the association to really vote unless you have written a tune or played on a record or produced a record or things of that nature."

Samuels' most recent CD, "Mosaic," was released earlier this year and welcomes back Paquito D'Rivera, Andy Narell, Oscar Stagnaro and Mark Walker — members of the original Caribbean Jazz Project — for three of the tracks. "The other six tracks present a new sound in instrumentation for the group," said Daniels, referring to a combination of vibes, marimba, B3 organ, bass, drums, percussion and violin.

"One of the things that the Caribbean Jazz Project has done, almost from its inception, is that there's always been this constant change of personnel, and when it first started to happen for me, was a little frightening.

"And then I realized that it wasn't something that was negative but something that was really positive — positive in the sense that it's always in a state of evolution, which means that for the players it's always fresh. That means that, for the audience, it's always a new adventure, and for the music, it's always evolving."