CARL TJADER & EDDIE PALMIERI - THE NEW SOUND (1966)

Cal Tjader and Eddie Palmieri - El Sonido Nuevo (The New Soul Sound)
Year: 1966

Original Release Date: May 24, 1966

If you are looking for some true Latin Jazz roots music, than look no further. This is no doubt a classic in the field of Latin Jazz , bringing together two of the most talented pioneers and prolific players of their era. Featuring the fiery Eddie Palmieri on piano and Cal Tjader on vibes, this disc is a knockout. The two leaders play in unison as one voice on this set of Latin rhythms, one leading the other into a series of improvisational dancing grooves. On this disc you get all the original material with Rudy Van Gelder doing the engineering plus many songs not featured on the original recording from 1966. The disc can go from soft, slow, lush vibraphone led melodies and switch to quick , uptempo, percussion syncopated beats that sizzle. The percussion work is smoking and results in some bouncy music. Some highlights include Eddie Palmieri leading on "Unidos," setting the high standard for the fellow band members to match which eventually they do. Palmieri's banging on the white keys gives way to Tjaders vibes smoother than a baton pass by a Gold Medal winning Olympic athelete. Like a race relay team, each band member hands off the lead flawlessly resulting in a classic song and a winner. Like many jazz bands from the sixties that wanted a piece of the pop market this disc features a familiar melody in the song, "On a Clear Day." Recorded by many different artists during that decade (check out Billy Pauls version) this song sounds out of place on the disc, although it was "Latinized " on this version. The pairing of Palmieri and Tjader works best on songs like "Picadillo, " "El Sonido Nuevo" and "Los Jibaros. " This disc has a Cuban feel to it and is most evident on songs like "Los Jibaros" where the Afro rhythms make you want to move. Or take the very traditional Cuban sounding "Guijira en Azul" where the Cuban folk rhythms dominate and make you want to dance even if you're sitting. In terms of a historical snapshot it shows the early influence of Latin jazz on future generations of musicians. This is a beautiful collection of music for anyone that likes Latin Jazz. Recommended for Latin Jazz fans.

El Sonido Nuevo, is a smoker from the very first track, with intense hot salsa and cool jazz. For this session, Cal Tjader and bassist Bobby Rodriguez joined up with Palmieri and La Perfecta, to create a new unit with a new sound. The cd's opening track, "Los Jibaros " starts off with a chunkier than usual mambo theme, which Tjader spices up in his vibes solo set. He plays to the trombone section and quickly gets into a call and response dialogue with them. "Ritmo Uni" begins with the grooving bass of Bobby Rodriguez, who is then joined by the feverish rhythms of Palmieri's always cooking percussion and brass sections, all of which combine to create a hypnotic, funky, montuno vibe that perfectly underpins Tjader's superb solo. The song prematurely fades out after a scant three minutes. Thankfully, the producers allowed the tape to run on "Picadillo," a hard-driving 7-minute exploration of Tito Puente's mambo classic. Palmieri reaches deep inside his Nuyorican soul to unleash a long, climactic piano solo filled with echoes of McCoy Tyner, Thelonious Monk, and Bud Powell. The band moves in heated rhythm behind him, playing with just the right amount of restraint, heightening the intensity of Palmieri's inspired solo. Tjader is given just the push he needs to take his playing one step beyond, and trombonist Barry Rogers brings it all home with his wide open solo. "Modesty," the theme to the now forgotten film Modesty Blaise, is a kitchy throwback to the groovy days of the Mod `60s, when men dressed like Austin Powers and actually looked cool (if only for a minute). "Unidos" opens with a mean Palmieri solo played with a thick Cuban accent. George Castro glides across the uptempo beat, serving up some funky Latin flute. Tjader swings pleasantly enough on the album's most inappropriate selection, the Broadway standard "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever." A decent enough track in its own right, but it was somebody's bad call to put it on the album. But the best is saved for last, and all the stops are pulled on the album's title cut, "El Sonido Nuevo." Loosely structured and jamming, it is on this track that all of the talents of the assembled players came together, producing a blazing masterpiece of Latin-jazz improvisation.

The power of the original vinyl release is diluted by the six enjoyable but rather lightweight bonus tracks mindlessly tacked on to the end of the Verve CD reissue. There has got to be outtakes of this session in the Verve music vaults somewhere. The reissue could surely have added value if it at least included the full and unedited versions of the songs, without all those irritating commerical fade-outs. Nevertheless, the musical meeting of Tjader and Palmieri produced a new soul sound that was a hugely influential precursor to salsa. El Sonido Nuevo.....Oh Yeah!!

Personnel:

Cal Tjader (Vibes)
Eddie Palmieri (Piano)
George Castro (Flute and Percussion)
Tommy Lopez (Drums)
Manny Oquendo (Drums)
Ismael Quintana (Percussion)
Jose Rodrigues (Trombone)
Mark Weinstein (Trombone)
Julian Priester (Trombone)
Bobby Rodriguez (Double Bass)
Barry Rogers (Trombone and Conga)
Claus Ogerman (Arranger)
Jerry Dodgion (Flute)
Lonnie Hewitt (Piano)
Dick Hyman (Organ)
Stan Applebaum (Cello)
George Duvivier (Double Bass)
Al Zulaica (Piano)
Stan Gilbert (Double Bass)
Ray Barretto (Conga)
Carl Burnett (Drums)
Chick Corea (Piano)
Derek Smith (Organ)
Armando Peraza (Bongos)
Grady Tate (Drums)
Chico O'Farrill (Arranger and Conductor)

Cal Tjader and Eddie Palmieri - El Sonido Nuevo Tracks:

01 Los Jibaros (Ray Rivera/Vin Roddie) 2:45
02 Guajira en Azul (Eddie Palmieri/Cal Tjader) 3:28
03 Ritmo Uni (Eddie Palmieri/Jose Rodriguez) 3:53
04 Picadillo (Tito Puente) 7:07
05 Modesty (theme from Modesty Blaise) (Johnny Dankworth/Adolph Green) 2:30
06 Unidos (Eddie Palmieri/Cal Tjader) 4:36
07 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner) 1:55
08 El Sonido Nuevo (Eddie Palmieri/Cal Tjader) 5:07
09 Fuji (Cal Tjader) 2:34 *
10 Black Orchid (Cal Tjader) 3:13 *
11 Los Bandidos (Cal Tjader) 7:18 *
12 Poinciana (Nat Simon/Buddy Bernier) 3:27 *
13 Yellow Days (A. Carillo/A. Berstein) 2:22 *
14 Along Comes Mary (Tandyn Almer) 3:19 *
(*- bonus tracks)