The new CD from Cambridge’s Revolutionary Snake Ensemble advances their Sun Ra-meets-the-Dirty Dozen hybrid with songs both traditional and unexpected. The tunes they choose and write have meaty riffs that give a base for solos in a modern jazz vein atop heavier rhythms. On several tunes, the horns solo around each other, pushing the edge of current jazz almost to avant-garde space or to the collective improvisation prevalent in the beginnings of jazz. Whether in the studio or marching with the Muses parade, the brass or funk beats that support their four-horn lineup are laid back for New England, but they are still pretty tight compared to the almost-fall-off-your-bar-stool street rhythms of New Orleans and parts South.

Still, they do convincing versions of “Just a Closer Walk” and “Little Liza Jane,” and Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” becomes into a cross between a second line parade and a high school marching band halftime performance. Their take on the spiritual “Down by the Riverside” puts the song in a minor key that gives it a reverent but not mournful feel. Forked Tongue mixes New Orleans music with more explicitly Caribbean flavor, but their attempt isn’t as ambitious as some similar local efforts. Still, the modern jazz lines over the interwoven drums and percussion still make this both a brainy and danceable record.