Who knows why this 1998 session of Roy Hargrove’s band was shelved for so long, especially after winning a Grammy for their album Habana. Better late than never, but only the living get to appreciate what the late great trumpeter played with his band of Frank Lacy/tb, Sherman Irby/as, Jacques Schwarz-Bart/ts, Gabriel Hernandez-Larry Willis/p, Ed Cherry/g, Gerald Cannon/b, Miguel Diaz-Changuito/perc and Julio Barreto-Willie Jones III/dr. The album has a feel akin to Dizzy Gillespie’s Afro Cuban big band, with some ultra hot keyboards, piano and bass sizzling on pieces lie “B and B” and the percussion discussion of “Afreaka” with Hargrove’s horn glowing in the dark. Some modal salsa is mixed with Cherry on “Kamala’s Dance” and Schwarz-Bart is bold and beautiful on the Dizzying “Lake Dase”. Romance is in the air on a lovely “Another Time” with Willis going into dark corners on a rich “Ethiopia”. Hargrove and Schawarz-Bart pop the cork on the celebrative “Priorities” while Lacy slides into home like Ricky Henderson on the bold and beautiful “Rumba Roy”. My only regret in listening to the album is that I’ll never get to see it performed, so only hearing can be believing.