CAL TJADER
Black Hawk Nights (Fantasy)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Vibraphonist Cal Tjader had a plum gig in late 1950s. While many jazz artists weren't sure where they'd be the next night, Tjader and his band knew exactly where they'd be: at San Francisco's Black Hawk club. They played there night after night, sometimes for months at a time, and they had an appreciative audience for their mellow brand of Latin jazz. Two classic live albums, A Night At The Black Hawk (1958) and Live & Direct (1959) were recorded at the club, but those albums have been out of circulation for a very long time. Black Hawk Nights joins the two onto a single 76 minute CD. One track, "The Continental," originally part of Live & Direct, had to be left off because it would have forced a second CD (and a higher price). Tracks 1-7 (A Night At The Black Hawk) feature pianist Vince Guaraldi, a few years prior to his solo fame, laying back providing textures most of the way but making a huge statement with his very Latin solo on "A Night In Tunisa." Jose "Chombo" Silva's soulful sax comes up big on every track, unforgettable whether it's emotional and breathy or arrogant and muscular. On the Live & Direct tracks, Tjader leads a quintet with Lonnie Hewitt on piano and Victor Venegas on bass, along with the legendary percussion unit of Willie Bobo on drums and Mongo Santamaria on congas and timbales (the latter two played in both bands here). This band could swing. "Raccoon Straits" gave Venegas a workout up and down the neck of that bass and gave Hewitt all kinds of room for vamping and comping. His solo in the final third of the song alternates between traditional scales and timing and some rather fascinating stop-start stuttering and an interesting use of notes that shouldn't go together yet somehow do. A highlight here is "Mambo Terrifico," featuring a guest performance by Rolando Lozano. The credits say he's playing flute, but if that ain't a piccolo then my hearing just went. It's a very happy tune with a great Caribbean flavor and all kinds of rhythm to move it along. It's a perfect close to a perfect pair of Black Hawk nights.

© 2000 - DJ Johnson