Search - Cal Tjader :: Mambo Sangria

Good Tjader Collection, Perhaps Not His Greatest

J H Murphy | Agoura, California USA | 01/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love Cal Tjader, and this is a good way to fill out your collection. As the other reviewer noted, this comprises two albums from the bygone days of vinyl. I don't think that these are the best intro to Tjader if you have not listened to him before. This seemed a little down-tempo, and the recording seems flat in some tunes. (Some of this was live, and that's not uncommon. OTOH, "St. Croix" comes across well in spite of it.) With those caveats, a good addition to most collections, good Latin jazz with a generally laid-back style. Three-and-a-half stars,with a bump to four for the price/value combination."

Two albums on one CD

J H Murphy | 02/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mambo Sangria apparently has all the Cal Tjader material found on the albums Plugs In and Solar Heat. So, check out the reviews for those two and compare prices - you don't get liner notes with this combined set (one disc with over 60 minutes play time), but you will save some dollars to buy this instead of the separate CDs. Probably, few of these tunes are among the best known Tjader pieces, yet there's a nice variety and some strong work here, including plenty of the Latin flavor and cheerful vibraphone he was known for (ever heard vibes play that wasn't cheerful?). I've never found a version of "Ode to Billy Joe" that I liked at all - Cal comes very close to making me want to play it again. However, some of the real highlights are "Alonzo", "Nica's Dream", "St. Croix", "Get Out of My Way", "Felicidade", "Fried Bananas", "Solar Heat" and the title track. Not a bad collection, and not a bad price."