Cal Tjader - Greatest Hits

Cal Tjader | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fantasy
• ASIN: B000000XFT
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,273 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro)

2. Mamblues

3. Cool

4. Cubano Chant

5. Ginza Samba

6. Black Orchid

7. Doxy

8. Lucero

9. Maria

10. Afro Blue

11. Invitation

12. Viva Cepeda

13. Mambo Macumba

14. Ritmo Africano

15. Tumbao

16. Bonita

17. A Night in Tunisia

18. Sonny Boy

19. Mambo Terrifico

20. Ritmo Caliente

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Latin jazz defined! You owe yourself this CD., November 1, 2003

By 

Dick K (Centreville, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cal Tjader - Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

So you like jazz? or Latin music? or Latin jazz? Well then, you must be reading this out of curiousity because I know you already have this CD or the music on it. No? Well, then you owe yourself this CD because this is a must-have addition to any jazz or Latin music collection.

Cal Tjader is easily the most famous non-Latino leader of a Latin jazz band. He crossed back and forth between the worlds of Latin jazz and mainstream bop and made some wonderful music in the processs. His light, happy style on vibes worked in both styles and he also played drums, timbales and bongos. He had a huge influence on other muscians including Carlos Santana, and through him, Latin rock.

This 2CD set is actually two 'best of' LPs rereleased on CDs and the compilation is excellent and the engineering is very good as well. The list of contributing musicians on this CD reads like a who's who in West Coast and Latin jazz! The happy result is a set that virtually defines a genre and belongs in any jazz collection or any collection of Latin music.

Oh, and this is happy, upbeat music you'll enjoy even if you don't have a jazz or Latin collection! Get it and I'll bet you won't regret it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves 10 stars, May 1, 2004

By 

R. J. Marsella (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cal Tjader - Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

This is music that could raise the dead. My favorite track is Ginza Samba with it's remarkable guitar opening by Eddie Duran and Tjader and Stan Getz trading solos. There is much more however. The percussion of Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria kicks butt on many of the tracks and on tunes Viva Cepeda and Afro Blue they are devastating. Armando Peraza (who later played with Santana) is also wondeful on the tracks where he is featured. Cal Tjader plays the vibes with an amazing rhythmic intensity that blends with the percussion and yet rises above it in some of the sweetest improvisation on this instrument ever recorded. This CD is wonderful and should appeal to fans of latin jazz as well as those who love the vibes playing of Milt Jackson or Bobby Hutcherson.Well worth checking out.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CAL TJADER- GREATEST HITS, May 21, 2000

By 

luis de quesada (jamaica, new york United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cal Tjader - Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Cal Tjader's Greatest Hits, features many of his very best recordings with the Fantasy Label. The best song in this compilation being Cal Tjader's interpretation of Cuba's Chano Pozo's "Soul Sauce/Wachi Wara". This original version of Pozo's hit, in my opinion, has a better musical arrangement, percussion and more "pep" than his 1964-65 version he later recorded for the Verve label. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Rolando Lozano, Eddie Cano, Mongo Santamaria, Luis Miranda, Stan Getz, Vince Guaraldi, Willie Bobo, Victor Venegas, Bayardo Velarde, etc. this album is a must for all Cal Tjader and jazz fans.