CAL TJADER - Black Hawk Nights (2000) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In the late '50s, Cal Tjader and his bands played lengthy engagements at the Black Hawk jazz club in San Francisco. This CD combines almost everything from two albums he recorded there in the late '50s: the entirety of A Night at the Blackhawk, and all songs save one from Live and Direct. This is on the mellow side for Tjader, even by the vibraphonist's standards; if A Night at the Blackhawk is low-energy, Live and Direct is positively sleepy. A Night at the Blackhawk employs an all-star sextet including Willie Bobo on drums, Mongo Santamaria on congas, and Vince Guaraldi on piano. Despite the presence of Bobo and Santamaria though, it's only in the Latin-Afro-Cuban mood about half the time. That's heard on the mambo version of "Stompin' at the Savoy," "I Love Paris," and Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," the last of which is of course a natural for the Latin-jazz treatment; otherwise it's pretty inside, straight-ahead stuff. Although Live and Direct was billed to the Cal Tjader Quintet, it in fact usually features just a quartet of Tjader, Lonnie Hewitt on piano, Victor Venegas on bass, and Willie Bobo on drums. The leader doesn't even play on "My Romance," a showcase for Hewitt. Latin-Afro-Cuban-jazz fusion is barely evident on the laidback Live and Direct session, except for the high-spirited finale. Actually, the Live and Direct set is rather too much on the polite, even sleepy side: the kind of thing you'd put on to fall asleep to in the wee hours. The pace does pick up for Live and Direct's only Tjader original, "Raccoon Straits," and "Mambo Terrifico," the number that has Santamaria and Lozano on board. by Richie Unterberger 
Tracklist :
1     Stompin' at the Savoy 5:23
Benny Goodman / Andy Razaf / Edgar Sampson / Chick Webb
2     I Hadn't Anyone Till You 8:08
Ray Noble
3     Bill B. 12:05
Cal Tjader
4     Blue and Sentimental 3:05
Count Basie / Mack David / Jerry Livingston
5     I Love Paris 4:34
Cole Porter
6     A Night in Tunisia 9:15
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
7     Autumn Leaves 8:40
Joseph Kosma / Johnny Mercer / Jacques Prévert
8     My Romance 5:11
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
9     Theme from the and the Beautiful 3:46
David Raksin
10     You Stepped Out of a Dream 5:30
Nacio Herb Brown / Gus Kahn
11     Raccoon Straits 6:19
Cal Tjader
12     Mambo Terrifico 4:23
Jose Lozano
Credits :
Bass – Al McKibbon (faixas: 1 to 6), Victor Venegas (faixas: 7 to 12)
Congas – Mongo Santamaria (faixas: 1 to 12)
Drums – Willie Bobo (faixas: 1 to 12)
Piano – Lonnie Hewitt (faixas: 7 to 12), Vince Guaraldi (faixas: 1 to 6)
Tenor Saxophone – Jose Silva (faixas: 1 to 6)
Timbales – Willie Bobo (faixas: 7 to 12)
Vibraphone – Cal Tjader
Note
Tracks 1 to 6 originally released as A Night At The Black Hawk (Fantasy 3283); tracks 7 to 12 on Live And Direct (Fantasy 3315)