I’m sure we’ve all heard many interpretations of Tchaikovsky’s classic “Nutcracker Suite”, even swung by Duke Ellington at one time. Here, we get a salsa’d Latin take, and it’s picante to the core. Drummer and leader Joe McCarthy leads a rhythm section of Luis Perdomo/p, Vinny Valentino/g, Boris Kozlov/b and Samuel Torres/perc along with four trombones, a six member sax section and four trumpets, all filled with machismo, with the sections duking it out around Perdomo’s solo on “Dance of the Reeds” or the drum-introduced avalanche of percussion on “Trepak”. There are some Gil Evans-inspired moods caressed by Torres’ congas on “Arabian Dance” and Frank Basile’s baritone sac gigs in on the caliente “Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairies”. This album definitely does not need to be restricted to Christmas, as it swings all year round.