Tjader Plays Mambo

Performer: Cal Tjader
Distributor: Fantasy (distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Cal Tjader (vibraphone); Manuel Duran, Bayardo Velarde, Carlos Duran, Edgard Rosales, Dick Collins, Al Porcino, Luis Miranda, Charlie Walp, John Howell. Recorded in September 1954 and February 1956. Originally released on Fantasy (3221). Personnel: Cal Tjader (vibraphone, timbales); Dick Collins, Charlie Walp, John Howell , Al Porcino (trumpet); Manuel Duran (piano, claves); Edward Verlardi, Edward Rosalies (congas, bongos); Bayardo Velarde (congas, timbales); Luis Miranda (congas). Audio Remasterer: Phil DeLancie. Liner Note Author: Ralph J. Gleason. Recording information: Marines Memorial Theater, San Francisco, CA (09/11/1954-02/21/1956). Having finished his tenure with George Shearing in 1954, a thoroughly Latin-inoculated Cal Tjader took off on his own, recording several short slices of infectious Latin jazz, from which a dozen were selected for this album. Many of the selections are standards retrofitted with percolating Latin rhythms, cut and shaped to fit the old three-minute limit of 45 or 78 rpm singles. Tjader's crystalline vibes are teamed with a San Francisco Latin percussion section that lays down the grooves crisply and succinctly, with an occasional emulation of the more laid-back Shearing Latin sound ("East of the Sun"). Elsewhere, Cal experiments with a hot four-man trumpet section on four of the tracks, the best of which is a rhumba version of "Fascinating Rhythm." The earliest Tjader-led recording of "Guarachi Guaro" (later known as "Soul Sauce") is also included here. These seminal tracks helped launch the Cal Tjader Latin jazz style, and they still sound fresher than many other such historical landmarks. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Because he was a crossover success, vibraphonist/percussionist Cal Tjader received his share of derision from both sides of the jazz/Latin fence. However, his sincere interest in Latin rhythms and their potential for blending with cool jazz led to a groundbreaking fusion of the two, and a genuine hit with the tune "Soul Sauce" in 1965. An important conduit between the two styles, he helped bring percussionists Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo to a much wider audience. With practically a life lived on tour, it's almost fitting he was on the road (in the Phillipines) when he passed away at 56 in 1982.

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