Cal Tjader: Invitation
Musicians:
Cal Tjader (vibes),
Manuel Duran (piano), Carlos Duran (bass), Luis Miranda (conga), Bayardo Verlardi (timbales)
.Composed by Bronis?aw Kaper
.Recorded: Los Angeles, November 1956
Rating: 90/100 (learn more)
Born in St. Louis of Swedish stock, Cal Tjader was to Latin jazz what New York pianist Martin Denny was to the South Pacific. (Transplanted to Hawaii, Denny christened Exotica with his 1957 LP and scored a campy mainland hit with "Quiet Village," on which sidemen imitated birdcalls and jungle cries.) After an early-'50s apprenticeship with Englishman George Shearing's pseudo-Latinized combo, Tjader capitalized on the mid-'50s mambo mania with such Latinate lounge-exotica as Polish émigré Bronis?aw Kaper's 1952 MGM movie theme "Invitation," which is Denny minus the birdcalls. With Awk-awks and Whoop-whoop-whoops, this could've been a huge hit.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: exotica · latin jazz · lounge · vibes
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