El Sonido Nuevo: The New Soul Sound

Performer: Cal Tjader
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Producer: Creed Taylor
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Cal Tjader (vibraphone, percussion), Eddie Palmieri (arranger, piano), Stan Applebaum (arranger, cello), Claus Ogerman (arranger), Barry Rogers (trombone, conga), Julian Priester, Jose Rodriguez, Mark Weinstein (trombones), George Castro (flute, percussion), Jerry Dodgion (flute), Lonnie Hewitt, Al Zulaica (piano), Dick Hymann (organ), Bobby Rodriguez, George Duvivier, Stan Gilbert (bass), Tommy Lopez, Manny Oquendo, Carl Burnett (drums), Ray Baretto (conga), Ismael Quintanna (percussion). Recorded in New York on November 25-26, 1963; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on May 24-26, 1966 and March 28-29, 1967. Track 11 recorded live at El Matador Club, San Francisco, California on January 1967. Includes liner notes by Larry Birnbaum. Latin jazz titans Eddie Palmieri (piano) and Cal Tjader (vibraphone) join forces on this thoroughly enjoyable session of south-of-the-border post-bop. Entitled EL SONIDO NUEVO, this 1966 release finds Tjader and Palmieri blending hot Latin styles (there are echoes of mambo, and foretastes of salsa) with the cool timbres and feel then popular in West Coast jazz. Despite relentless Latin grooves by the percussionists, and Palmieri's fiery playing--in which he incorporates guajira (a meter-shifting Cuban folk dance) and compasa (Cuban hill chants), among other styles--the proceedings have a smooth, almost lounge-like feel. This is attributable largely to the languid, shimmering sound of Tjader's vibes, and the slick, focused production. Still, the band swings intently on such rhythmically complex numbers as "Ritmo Uni" and Tito Puente's "Picadillo." The title track, which has Tjader and Palmieri building luminous lines while the percussion creates a net of dense rhythms, sounds like something Bill Evans might have dreamed while on vacation in Havana. The Verve reissue of EL SONIDO NUEVO includes six bonus tracks from BREEZE FROM THE EAST and ALONG COMES CAL, two other '60s Tjader dates, making this classic Latin jazz package an especially good bet.

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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