Cal Tjader - Catch The Groove (Live at The Penthouse 1963-1967) (2023)

Arriving on Record Store Day in 2023, Catch the Groove: Live at the Penthouse 1963-1967 by vibraphonist, composer, and bandleader Cal Tjader is an event. Despite a catalog spanning four decades, Tjader seems almost a marginal figure in the 21st century. He was arguably the first non-Latin musician to completely devote himself to establishing Latin jazz as a genre and a commercial success from the '50s until his death in 1982. Between 1967's Along Comes Cal and 1977's Guarabe, Tjader melded cool jazz, hard bop, boogaloo, salsa, guaracha, Latin funk, and fusion on fine recordings such as The Prophet, Cal Tjader Plugs In, Agua Dulce, Primo, and Amazonas. That said, the tide may be blowing in his direction again. In January, electronic producer Chris Bangs featured Tjader's "Samba Sueno" as the lead cut on Firebird. In April, the vibraphonist's Huracan, an obscure but star-studded 1978 direct-to-disc LP, was remastered and reissued. In May, esteemed critic Tom Moon published a review of it and celebrated Tjader's '70s recordings.
Catch the Groove is presented by Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective label. It offers 27 unreleased performances from Tjader's headline stints at Seattle's Penthouse. They were engineered and recorded by Jim Wilke, a local DJ who also broadcast some of these performances. Among Tjader's sidemen on these dates are pianists Clare Fischer, Lonnie Hewitt, and Al Zulaica, percussionist Armando Peraza, bassist Monk Montgomery, drummer Carl Burnett, and more.
On disc one, Tjader, a serious jazz vibraphonist, opens his 1963 gig by swinging Duke Ellington's "Take the A-Train," followed by Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" and Rodgers & Hart's "It Never Entered My Mind" before delving into samba on the Brazilian standard "Manha De Carnaval" and driving descarga on his "Insight." The entire collection is shot through with excellent, joyful performances of jazz standards juxtaposed with Latin and pop fare. From the middle to the end of disc one is a trio of Latin jazz jams with Eugene Holley's cooking son "Pantano" sandwiched between Tjader's lithely grooving "Davito" and the breezy "Leyte." His playing is crystalline as it circles outward from the root melody rhythmically and harmonically. That's easily heard on the wonderful, fingerpopping reading of "Love for Sale," "Lush Life," "I Can't Get Started," and Ray Bryant's enduring "Cuban Fantasy," while his own compositions "Fuji" and "Soul Burst" reflect that clarity using a breezier approach. The readings of Peraza's "Maramoor Mambo," Edu Lobo's samba "O Morro Nao Tem Vez," and Mario Bauza's "Mambo Inn" reflect a developed approach to Latin jazz, as do the pop tunes here -- Johnny Mandel's "The Shadow of Your Smile" and the Association's "Along Comes Mary" are transformed into burning Latin jazz.
The sound throughout is balanced and warm, though some tracks are prematurely faded at their peaks to make room for others. The booklet contains rare photos and liner essays by Greg Casseus, interviews with Eddie Palmieri and Poncho Sanchez, and musical evaluations by Gary Burton and Joe Locke. This fantastic reissue is an elemental portrait of Tjader the innovator, forging a singular path through jazz.