Big Al

I would divide his recording activities into five periods: Fantasy (1946 - 1961, including some sideman dates and two sessions as a leader for Savoy 1953/54) Verve (1961 - 1967) Skye (1968 - 1969) Fantasy & Galaxy (1970 - 1978) Concord (1979 - 1982) I like the first Fantasy period best, although there are very good items in every period. And you're right, there were stylistic differences between them making comparisons somewhat obsolete. Who would compare Getz' bossa nova records to his early quintets with Jimmy Raney? What would you say are the choice Tjader records from each period, and why? I can only speak o the Fantasy and Verve years, as that's all I have. Any recs as far as the Concord material would be greatly appreciated. That said, as I posted earlier, I think the best place to start with the Fantasy years is Los Ritmos Calientes, for reasons which I won't bore you with a second time. Needless to say, it more than lives up to it's title. For something a little more melodic, but no less rhythmic, pick up another Fantasy 2-fer called Black Orchid. The title track is my favorite Tjader piece (which he later re-did on a Verve album, Breeze from the East. More on that in a bit), and it also contains "Mambo at the 'M'," which was prominently featured on Mike's BFT. But the REAL highlight is the presence of Jose "Chombo" Silva, who was sometimes referred to as the "Latin Lester Young," which I guess would make him "El Prez" or something like that! Anyway, his sonorous tone is not to be missed. One more Fantasy 2-fer called Latino features Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo on all the tracks. It also features some swinging Eddie Cano big band charts. My only small gripe with this disc is the presence of a flute player who plays it way high up in the upper register so your fillings fall outta your teeth. But the rest is very very good, especially "Cuban Fantasy" where Mongo and Bobo go at each other like a pair of lions fighting over a zebra! Now, these are the only ones I've heard. Mike can probably give you more and better recs than those, but for the money (six albums for the price of three CDs) you really can't go wrong with those three. For the Verve sides, if you don't have Soul Sauce, then you cannot be a part of the elite secret society of Tjader Fans!!! I'm not too big a fan of his Verve sides, as most of them seem to be too overorchestrated for my tastes, but a couple certainly stand out: Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof, which was one of the first Verve LPRs, and as such, is still at a ridiculously high price for a 36-minute CD. Try to find it used if you can. There's no orchestration on this one, and in fact is quite the laid-back affair. Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil may not swing as much as the title indicates, but it is lovely music nonetheless, and features some sumptuous arrangements by Clare Fischer, who worked with Cal a bunch in the 60's and 70's. I used to have El Sonido Nuevo with Eddie Palmieri. It didn't make much of an impression on me, but there are others who like it a bunch. The title track is killer, however, and makes you wish it would go on for another 30 minutes or so! The only one I can think of that I would absolutely avoid is the 2-fer called Several Shades of Jade/Breeze from the East. This is a pairing of someone's bad idea to have Call play bad spy-movie music. Hell, even the liner notes acknowledge that these are two of Cal's weakest albums. In fact, the best songs from this CD can be found as bonus tracks on the El Sonido Nuevo CD. And with that, I turn it over to Mike!

Pretty much any Blue Note Jimmy is worth having. Not a bad one in the bunch. Don't ya just HATE mass generalizations like that?

uhhhhh..... I pretty much agree with Allen.... bye bye "license to greeeeaze"

What are we, in Oklahoma?!? :rsmile:

Nah, I was just gonna wait until next Christmas to post them. I figure, by now, folks have already filed away the Christmas disc and either aren't interested in digging it back out during the non-holiday time; or have just completely forgotten about the disc altogether. This way, by waiting until this coming December, people may be inclined to dig it back out and then will actually be interested in the answers. Plus, it buys my lazy ass ten more months to actually finish typing up the answers!

BTW, is Jackie McLean...... uhhhh, never mind!

FWIW, I'm the same color as the peachy-lookin' background on the board here.

I like the Colgate one I've been using, it really does the trick; but my dentist says I should start using Crest (he must be one of the four out of five dentists)!

Aw HELL YEAH!!!

Unit Structures My opinion only! Fire away!

Oh sure, torture me cuz they don't have no Aldo Nova!

Dude, you on B3, scottb on guitar, and me on drums!!! We'll be the loudest band on the planet (to cover up our noticable lack of skills!). Any suggestions for the name of our band?

I'll talk to the folks at that auto repair place there. They gotta know SOMEthing!!!

scottb, WE GOT OURSELVES AN ORGANIST!!!! Watch out Organissimo! (tidetd ofr lepsing)

It was just a spoof of the Abe Lincoln thread title.

Mike, I love ya! Starting a thread on Tjader like this! If I ever get to the Motherland, Cal will be the first thing we listen to! Geez, where do I start? I think the title of this thread says it all: Ritmos Calientes! Hot rhythms!!! That’s what Cal was all about. And the beauty of his playing, especially his doorbell playing, is that Cal was able to balance his love and passion for the rhythm against his formidable ability to swing on the vibes, and neither one happened at the expense of the other. I suppose it helped that Tjader was a percussionist FIRST, and a bell-player second. Again, not that one was ever sacrificed at the expense of the other; but you could tell, especially on those Fantasy albums, that Cal attacked his vibes with subtle ferocity, never overplaying, and yet also never sinking into EZ-muzak. And all the while, there’s that rhythm just percolating right along, holding everything together. For my money, the best place to start with Cal is a Fantasy 2-fer that shares the titles of this thread: Los Ritmos Calientes. Here is where that perfect balance happens, probably more so than on any other album Cal did (of course, I’m completely biased, as this was my first Tjader purchase, and it remains my favorite to this day). Of course, he’s on vibes, but he’s also on timbales, bongos, congas, gourds, you name it, he’s playing it somewhere. And some of the songs just kinda come in, shake things up for about a minute and leave, and that’s it. No structure, no verse-chorus-verse, no real melody, just pure, unadulterated RHYTHM!!! Mike, what do you think: which do you prefer, his Fantasy years or his Verve years? Or are you of the same opinion as me, that there’s no comparison because it’s like apples and oranges? Great thread, man! Let’s keep this rhythm going!

Paul Winchell, of course!!! You are correct, sir! But I wanna know how they got that distinctice Muttley snicker? Sneakly/Claude was a character exclusive to The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, who, along with her protectors The Ant Hill Mob, was in the Wacky Races.

Ah, there it is!!! Anywho, Sneakly was the altar-ego of.... the Hooded Claude!!! (insert hysterically maniacal Paul-Lynde-laugh here!) It was Dick Dastardly in the Wacky Races, who was voiced by the great Don Messick, IIRC; DD also starred (along with faithful snickering sidekick Muttley) in Stop that Pigeon!

Hey, where did Free for All's post go?

Took the plunge and ordered 4 of the 6 Van Halen albums with Diamond Dave (the other two I got for a few bucks from Best Buy with Reward Zone points!). Put a couple in the queue and I'm good to go. I really REALLY hate you guys, y'know.

My first Mosaic was actually a birthday present from my in-laws a couple years ago: the Byrd-Adams Mosaic!

He was one of the funniest men on the planet, straight or gay. I remember watching Hollywood Squares as a kid, and I didn't get ANY of the double-entendres that were flying around (as opposed to now, where I only get about 34% of 'em); he just had that voice! He could read the phone book and have me in stitches. (Pity that hardly any of those tapes exist anywhere) I mean, who else could've given such a perfectly oily voice to Templeton the Rat from Charlotte's Web? "A fair is a veritable smorgasboard, -orgasboard, -orgasboard....." Or the Hooded Claude? (Penelope Pitstop coming out on DVD soon! I can't wait!) Or Uncle Arthur? Anyone remember the scene where he's sitting down and says, "I can't get up; my feet are killing me;" and the camera pans down his legs to reveal pistols on the toes of his shoes, firing at him! I even remember when he died. I was 12, and that was a colossal drag (now, now, cut that out! Aw hell, you KNOW Lynde would've jumped on THAT line like a lion on a piece of meat. Yeah..... probably that one, too! ); a lot of my friends were like, "Yeah, he was pretty funny." Pretty funny? Hell, anytime he was on the TV, I was glued to it. If they ever make a movie about Lynde, they should get Sean Hayes to play him ("Jack" from Will & Grace). He has Lynde's flair for walking that fine line that keeps you wondering "Is he? Isn't he? And in the end, does it even matter?" I understand he was pretty miserable in real life, which is sad. Why is it that the people who make us laugh the hardest are the ones who have the hardest time laughing themselves? I'll never know. Man I miss him. Always wonder how his career might've gone had he lived.

Of course I want to see them. However, the last time I tried to go, I caused a citywide blackout, so I'm not sure they'd let me in anyway. Enjoy the show, guys. Maybe someday soon.....

Hey, get your own material!! Ah HAH!!! So THAT'S who your writer is! :rsmile:

Thank you!