Verve’s TALKIN’ VERVE: ROOTS OF ACID JAZZ series, ostensibly meant to save DJs weeks of digging through crates on their own, compiles sample-worthy cuts from the 1960s artists like Cal Tjader. A key figure in the mainstream popularisation of Latin jazz in America, Tjader’s coolly swinging vibes and sophisticated, unerring sense of rhythm make him a perfect candidate for the series. Over the 72-plus minutes of this collection, one can hear Tjader’s scintillating amalgam (part traditional Latin, part bop, part West Coast cool), and the movement he helped define.
There is a hushed intensity to most of Tjader’s work, due largely to the mercurial shimmer of his vibraphone. Quiet groovers like "Triste" ease alongside more uptempo fare like "Manteca" and the jaunty Brazilian groove of "Samba Do Suenho". Piano firebrand Eddie Palmieri sits in on a reading of Tito Puente’s "Picadillo", and the appearance of Lalo Schifrin’s big band offers dynamic contrast on a hard-driving rendition of Horace Silver’s "Tokyo Blues". Though the real crate diggers will continue rifling through archives, this Verve set provides a superb sampler of this Latin-influenced groove master.