by Scott Yanow Mongo Santamaria leads a fine octet on this set, including musical director Eddie Allen on trumpet and the reeds of Jimmy Cozier and Craig Rivers. Most of the selections are group originals (Santamaria contributed seven of the dozen songs himself), other than catchy reworkings of "Summertime" and "Watermelon Man." The band plays with spirit and the music is primarily Afro-Cuban jazz, with a few boogaloo-flavored tunes tossed into the mix. Fun music.