Search - Cal Tjader :: Cool Fire

This White Man Could Jump

Fabricio Monteagudo | USA | 01/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For a long time, there has been a conception that white American boys are not known for being graceful, for being too shy or naive and when it comes to music, especially, not having enough soul in their playing. Well, as soon as you pop in your car this double-CD live concert package you will find out in no time that Cal Tjader was anything but shy or dull. With the enthusiastic support of his former boss and early pioneer in Latin jazz, the British jazz piano giant George Shearing, Tjader decided to tackle the challenge of melding American jazz with hot sizzling Afro-Cuban rhythms and continued to excel at it with great perseverance and confidence until his sudden in 1982 at 56. The CDs in this package are probably among the last three albums he ever made through his own recently inaugurated Concord Picante label (actually a subsidiary of Concord Records but headed by Tjader. They reveal a beautiful musical culmination of all the great accomplishments Tjader made in the realm of Latin jazz.During his last three years at Concord Picante (and of his life) he had hired great conga player Poncho Sanchez and the fantastic pianist Mark Levine (besides being a fantastic pianist for Tjader and others he has written probably the best in-depth textbook for all jazz piano students and other jazz instrumentalists who would like to have some jazz piano under their belt through Sher Publishing called THE JAZZ PIANO BOOK.)Gary Foster is particularly brilliant on soprano sax on several selections and alto sax on a few others (he also plays flute. "A Fuego Vivo" (Live Fire) is the first live CD in the package. Check out Gary Foster's alto sax solo on "Serenata", a rather old-fashioned tune made much hipper-sounding with a cha-cha-cha feeling by the Tjader outfit. Tjader's composition
"Mindanao" is a tremendously fiery outing for the leader himself on vibes, Levine on piano and Foster on sax. Check out Poncho Sanchez in a blistering conga display with Ramon Banda on timbales on "Poncho con dos Amigos" and a tremendously infectious 5/4 Latin groove on an old big band favorite, "The Continental". An amazing live performance that makes you wish you were there.
The same holds true for the second live CD "Good Vibes" featuring the most heated version of his signature tune "Soul Sauce" (Guachi Guara) displaying Tjader's fiery vibes and Levine as the montuno groove machine on piano. Really memorable. Another blazing performance is Mark Levine's composition, Shoshanna. What an amazing feature for Levine!!! Other highlights are Ray Bryant's "Cuban Fantasy" featuring Roger Glenn on a dazzling flute solo flight and finally a great blues in traditional Cuban son style featuring the leader and Levine. In short, these two performances at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall and at the Concord Jazz Festival at the Concord Pavilion truly demonstrate that this white American of Swedish background could jump with the very best Latin jazz musicians ever. 5 stars."