Customer Reviews

Cal Tjader - Greatest Hits

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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.

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.

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.

The vibes are a main instrument of this latin flavored sound. nobody does it better than Cal Tjader. Some great jazz here.

My goodness, this CD is spectacular!! I remember Cal Tjader back in the mid-60's and I do have several 33 records. But this CD is for my listening pleasure in my Honda Civic and I must confess, you zoom along with a Latino flair. This is a very classy Jazz/Latino collection of dynamite recordings -- go ahead, it's a steal at 11.98.

Carl Tjader was an emblematic artist due his presence and mesmerizing originality. The encounter with Tito Puente is now part of the legend. Tjader embodied, blended and even catapulted the Latin music toward new possibilities of expression and realization as anybody else.

This album is not only an excellent reference album; it's besides a perpetual guide for newcomers in music who must search and not adapt; study and never conforming themselves with to be followers but pioneers as he was.

A must-have.

The service was outstanding..it got home before I expected.The music as usual excellent.