Search - Cal Tjader :: Plays Mambo

Energetic Tjader Album

Aluminium Horse | Detroit, MI USA | 03/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mambo is Cuban, NOT Mexican music. It was the most popular Cuban rhythm (cha cha cha is a type of mambo), and salsa was the result of the experimentation in the US of Latin jazz and Latin fusion. Cal Tjader was one of the most influential practitioners of Latin jazz, and although he himself was not Latin, his music sounds just as authentic as that of Tito Puente and Ray Barretto. Although some of the covers on this album sound like, well, covers; other tracks, like Guachi Guara (later titled Soul Sauce), Tjader's composition Mambo Macumba, and Fascinating Rhythm, have a fresh, authentic sound that will get you dancing. This is much more than just a cover album, and suitable for true Latin fusion fans."

A Total Gas!

B. London | Chicago | 03/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Count Basie once was asked to define "swing". "It's music meant to make a dead man tap his feet". Whew, this album is a total gas. Swining salsa rhythym messed up in great Jazz standards that will make you tap your toes and shake whatever else you got going, brilliantly recorded sound and Jazz cooking on a slow burn,Mama!"

A Great Compilation

B. London | 05/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This may be one of the great period pieces of its time: witty, fun, with a serious dose of kitsch."