Tenor saxist Diego Rivera brings his big tone in line with his band of Terell Stafford/tp, Art Hirahara/p, Boris Kozlov/b and Rudy Royston/dr on this hard hitting set of originals. The team is able to go into overdrive as on the rapid run of the dark modal “Cosas” while Stafford is graceful on the lyrical “Cempasuchil”. Royston brings a snappy New Orleans feel to the funky “Pan De Muerto” and adds thunder to the avalanche of “La Calavera”. The horns get languid on “Vela” and give some clever dots and dashes as they converse with the drums on a romantic “Papel Picado” with Stafford in richly muted mode. Rivera’s got a great Blue Note sound, strong and in charge as a Latin Lover on “Esqueleto” and somber on the military tapped “Cruz”. Big biceps.