Roberto Magris/Denis Razz Quartet on "In Action": Music that Delights and Suprises

 

Roberto Magris Denis Razz Quartet- In Action- JMood Records

At the end of 2025, pianist Roberto Magris, who resides in the northeastern Italian seaport city of Trieste, released a wonderful quartet collaboration with the Croatian based saxophonist Denis Razumovic. The album is a two-disc release titled In Action on J Mood records. This adventurous collection of well-curated music features compositions from masters like John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Mal Waldron and Sun Ra, in addition to several promising works by Razumovic and Magris and a Blues by B3 master Jimmy Smith, where Magris shows his Hammond organ skills.

I became a fan and ardent follower of Magris for quite some time. I first came upon some his work with his Europlane orchestra with the cooking album Check In from 2005. Since then, I have followed this pianist’s growth as found him collaborating with both top-tier European musicians as well as some established ex-patriot American jazz artists that still had something to say. In the subsequent years, I’ve listened to and sometimes reviewed some of Magris’ releases that found the pianist working with such notable musicians as saxophonists Tony Lakatos and Herb Geller, multi-reed and trumpeter Ira Sullivan, French guitarist master Philip Catherine, bassists Art Davis and Eric Hochenberg, drummers Albert “Tootie” Heath and Idris Muhammad, and trumpeter Brian Lynch to to name a few.

Magris has said “I am an Italian of non-Italian culture…so I am an expert at looking ahead to tradition.” This skilled pianist has absorbed some of the music’s traditions before pushing forward. As a player, Magris has developed a wide range of colors on his pianistic palette. He can pull from skills like the bebopper fluidity that recalls Powell; the melodicism from Flanagan and Evans; the rhythmic drive and aggressive attack from Tyner and Pullen, and the harmonic and rhythmic adventurism of Hill and Bley. This makes Magris’ music a bit like a wrapped gift box; you never precisely know what you are getting until you open it.

On In Action, Magris is joined by three talented Croatian musicians Dennis Razz (Razumovic) on alto and soprano saxophones and flute; Karlo Ilić on acoustic bass electric guitar and oud; and Rajko Ergić on drums, percussion and soprano saxophone on two cuts. Magris uses both acoustic and electric pianos, keyboards, Hammond organ, and Mexican whistles to complete the instrumentation. When the listener opens this gift, you get a potpourri of music that delights and surprises.

Magris mentions that vibrant saxophonist Dennis Razz, who is a local Croatian hero with limited exposure to the world of global jazz, “…is a passionate jazz musician with a big heart and soul.” That same heart, passion and soul are the common qualities that all these musicians possess; the secret sauce they bring out in each other when they operate together as a very intuitive, expressive group. This group was originally thought of as an informal and temporary band formed post COVID, but if this album is any indication, these guys have many more inventive roads to travel.

There are eighteen cuts on the album, close to two hours of music, that offers something for almost everyone-inventive, energetic, soulful, swinging, melodic, avant-garde leaning or blues based and unpredictable music.

You can groove to John Coltrane’s “Some Other Blues” with Razz’s fluid alto and Magris’ Wynton Kelly-like piano solo and a nice pizzicato solo by bassist Ilić. Dennis Razz’s “In Umbria” a promising two chord-based piece. It reveals a compositional skill allowing the altoist to show his melodic side as Magris’ electric piano floats in the background with aplomb, and Ergić’s intuitive drum work adds to the mix. Wayne Shorter’s composition “Blue Nile” is another favorite, as Magris and Razz raise the temperature of the set with driving kineticism driven by the potent rhythm section and Razz alto searing and soaring with authority. Ergić’s polyrhythmic solo is another treat.

Magris and Ilić is an avant-garde original “Double Helix” which finds the bassist picking up his electric guitar and having what feels like a spontaneous atonal interaction.

“Il Mare a Fiume,” another Magris original, opens with a synth-driven keyboard setting the stratospheric opening before the music morphs into a soulful shuffle. Magris is on electric piano, Ilić on electric bass, and Ergić’s provides the sauntering drums, as Razz’s soprano soars in the clouds like a falcon.

McCoy Tyner’s “You Taught My Heart To Sing” is a beautiful ballad that brings great melodicism to the set. Magris’ piano lines are liquid and heartfelt, offering a tip of his hat to Tyner, and Razz’s alto evokes a sweet sound that reminds me of Johnny Hodges.

Yusef Lateef’s Middle Eastern inspired “The Plum Blossom” is a trip into another world. To create this world the group uses the unique instrumentation of Ilić’s oud playing sinewy lines against Magris’ acoustic piano probing, Ergić’s tambourine and Razz’s drone-like soprano saxophone work.

The second disc has its own highlights. The free form “Spirits of the Wild” with Razz’s flute work, Ilić’s bowed bass and Magris on Mexican whistles. A swinging version of Sun Ra’s “Discipline 27-11” that shows off Razz’s expressive dynamism on the alto.

The title track, Magris’ “In Action” is a Coltrane inspired composition that opens with a driving ostinato line that is the perfect vehicle for this group to let loose. Magris’ piano lines are very reminiscent of Tyner’s aggressive keyboard attack; percussive and stabing. Razz’s alto ignites the music further like a splash of gasoline on a raging fire. His horn is taking no prisoners as Ergić’s drum work propels the music and offers a dynamic solo of his own.

Sun Ra’s “Lanquidity,” opens with Magris’ dissonant acoustic piano countered by Ilić’s electric guitar probing before Razz’s soprano enters.

Mal Waldron’s “Left Alone” is played with great feeling by Razz and Magris that it just sweeps you away with the song’s inherent pathos; just beautiful. Magris’s piano solo explores the edges of the tune, as Ilić’s bass maintains the pulse with Ergić’s brush work and Razz’s alto states the theme with an open heart.

Razz’s composition for his daughter, “‘A’ Means Antonia” has a bright feeling and finds the altoist in top form. Magris adds some tasty electric piano that reminds me a little of the work of Jeff Lorber.

The album follows with Magris using his Hammond organ chops on the Jimmy Smith blues “You’ll See” and then the classic “My Foolish Heart” ends the set with a familiar, slow shuffling feeling good coda. 

  

Revisiting Ten Important Pianists Who Consider the Impact of Pianist Paul Bley's Iconic Solo on "All The Things You Are' from 1963. Ten Years Later.

Paul Bley (photo credit unknown) 

Ten years ago we lost the great and iconoclastic pianist Paul Bley on January 3, 2016. In the same month, I thought it would be fitting to poll some of the pianists whose work I admired, to comment on a notable quote made by influential guitarist Pat Metheny in the press. He identified a Paul Bley solo from the RCA Victor album Sonny Meets Hawk!  from 1963. Metheny was quoted by Ben Ratliff as saying Bley's solo on "All the Things You Are" from that album was very influential to the guitarist and went on to say the solo was "...the shot heard 'round the world."

Sensing that the exclamatory praise that Metheny showered on Bley was worth exploring further, I ventured to question some noted and respected pianists and to offer their thoughts about Metheny's comments. Ten years ago, Bley's passing was fresh on our minds. I wanted to explore this man's lasting impact amongst his peers. Would these pianists view Bley's playing on that solo like an important harbinger for what was to come? Was Bley's approach of pushing the limits both  harmonically and rhythmically the path of music in the future? Metheny said,  "The ... Bley thing opened up this universe." , or was that just hyperbole? 

I was fortunate to get nine respected pianists to answer my queries about Bley and his music. Two of those who participated ten years ago are sadly no longer with us and be missed, Jack Reilly (1932-2018) and Frank Kimbrough (1956-2020), both excellent pianists who were  very gracious and incisive in their participation for this piece. The remaining seven include the still active Markus Burger, Marc Copland, Pete Malinverni, Roberto Magris, Gary Versace, Kenny Werner and Denny Zeitlin. There is also a link to a Ted Panken interview with pianist Aaron Parks and his take on Paul Bley's music that was very informative. 

After ten years has passed since Paul Bley's left us, it was still relevant to hear what these talented pianist's had to say about Bley's iconic solo and how iconoclastic career became so influential to those who followed in his footsteps.

Here is the original post from 2016 originally titled "Ten Pianists  Reflect on the Enduring Influence of Paul Bley"

                                       

   
With the recent passing of the pianist Paul Bley, I was intrigued by the many tributes posted on line and in newspapers for this very iconoclastic player who I thought had limited appeal. I had been aware of Bley and have a sampling of his music -both as a sideman and a leader- in my music collection. But to be honest, I never quite got what all the fuss was about? Maybe it is sad or maybe it is fortuitous, but obituaries have a way of leading me to search more closely into a person's life and work.

I dug up a Ben Ratliff interview with the guitarist Pat Metheny from the New York Times in  2005. Metheny recalled how a solo that Mr. Bley did in 1963 with Sonny Rollins influenced him greatly. He called the solo  "the shot heard 'round the world,"  That was a pretty strong sentiment from a very gifted guitarist who I respect. I would have never guessed Metheny had such a  musical linkage to the pianist Bley. ( You can check out this interview here)

"...the shot heard 'round the world."

                                                                                                Pat Metheny

Brief Bio:

I had to study up on this man's life. (Hyman) Paul Bley was a Canadian born in Montreal, Quebec on November 12, 1932. His surname was taken from his adopted father, a Jewish textile merchant who owned an embroidery factory. In the mid to late forties Bley attended McGill Conservatory often playing around Montreal with his trio. For a short time, at the age of seventeen, he replaced Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge. He enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1950 remaining active in the Montreal music scene. In 1952 Bley and other local musicians established the Jazz Workshop, a jazz series held Saturday afternoons at Chez Paree, a leading Montreal nightclub.

According to Chuck Haddix's biography of Charlie Parker- Bird the Life and Music of Charlie Parker -one day, unannounced, Bley decided to show up on Parker's doorstep in NYC. He brazenly invited the saxophone legend to play at the Canadian Jazz Workshop. Surprisingly Parker readily accepted! The young entrepreneurial producer was relieved when the notoriously unreliable Parker actually showed up to play, both at a live Canadian Broadcasting television show and later with Bley's trio at the Jazz Workshop. Jazz in Canada was at its peak at this time. Parker later that year made his famous Massey Hall recording in Toronto with his "Quintet of the Year" that included Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and Max Roach on drums. A crackdown on local clubs in Montreal, forced many local musicians to leave for greener pastures. Itching to play with the innovators of this new music, Bley found himself accompanying jazz giants like  Lester Young, Ben Webster, Chet Baker and Sonny Rollins. The restless twenty-one year old eventually went to California and met bassist Charles Mingus. Mingus asked the pianist to conduct his Nonet on a recording for Mingus's new record label Debut in 1953. That same year  Bley released his own first recording on the Debut label- Introducing Paul Bley with Mingus on bass and Art Blakey on drums.

Bley moved to California taking a residency at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles. He booked Ornette Coleman's group to the Club in 1958. The iconic "live" performance captured on the recording The Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet  finds a young Coleman on alto with Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, Billy Higgins on drums and Bley on piano, playing music that would usher in an era of the Shape of Jazz to Come  and launch the avant-garde school of jazz.

Bley married his first wife, the pianist and composer Carla Bley in 1957 encouraging her to write music. Her compositions would influence him throughout his career. In 1960 Bley took another turn into free jazz joining the  adventurous reed player Jimmy Giuffre, who had just broken up his trio with guitarist Jim Hall. The new Jimmy Giuffre 3 recorded  their first of four albums Fusion ,with Giuffre on clarinet and Steve Swallow on bass and Bley on piano. This iteration would last for three years.

In 1963 Bley was a featured sideman in the aforementioned  RCA recording of Sonny Rollins with Coleman Hawkins  Sonny Meets Hawk. This was a launching point for Bley's career as a leader. In the late sixties Bley was a pioneer performer in the use of  electronics. He and his then wife composer /vocalist Annette Peacock  performed experimental music using early Moog synthesizers. Bley formed the electric jazz fusion group Scorpio in 1974. It was during this period that he recorded the album unofficially titled Jaco featuring then relative unknowns Pat Metheny on guitar, Jaco Pastorius on bass with Bruce Ditmas on drums. By the end of 1974 Bley's love affair with electronic instrumentation began to fade.

In the nineteen seventies through the nineteen eighties Bley was involved with Carol Goss (whom he married in 1980) creating  IAI ( Improvising Artist Inc)- a company that developed a catalog of progressive music and promoted live performances of avant-garde artists. During this period, Bley performed works on solo piano and also recorded and performed with trio mates bassists Steve Swallow and Gary Peacock and drummer Barry Altschul. In the 1990's the pianist became part of the faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music. Bley was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2008. Mr. Bley passed of natural cause on January 3, 2016 at his home in Stuart, Florida.

Now that I had a better understanding of the man and his career I decided to listen to Bley's music with a more deliberate intent. I found a feature on jazz.com where the contemporary pianist Aaron Parks was asked to name his twelve favorite Paul Bley recordings (you can check out this article here). Parks cited multiple songs with several memorable solos. I listened intently to every one I could get my hands on. Not surprisingly-Bley's solo on "All the Things You Are" from the 1963 RCA album Sonny Meets Hawk with Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, Paul Bley, Bob Cranshaw and Roy McCurdy- was again praised as a benchmark performance.

The Search:

Convinced there must be something there, I listened to this solo over and over and over again trying to grasp the nuances of its apparent evolutionary impact. Frankly, while I thought it was well done, I was still a bit perplexed as to its hallowed significance. The solo was a bit jagged, a little discordant and strayed  a bit too far off the changes to my ears. I was at a loss. I must be missing something. How could I better understand the depth of this solo that influenced so many people?

At the risk of showing my ignorance, I decided to ask the professionals- other pianists that I respect who would be better able to explain the significance. I would pose a question and include a YouTube video of the performance for their convenience. I was excited by the prospect of seeing who would respond and what they would say.

Here is the question I posted to over a dozen pianists :

"With the recent death of pianist Paul Bley I was wondering whether you could shed some light on his playing for me. The NY Times did an interview with guitarist Pat Metheny who lauded Bley's solo on  "All the Things You Are" on the Sonny Meets Hawk  album from 1963.

I have included a YouTube video of the song with Bley's solo starting at approximately 3:15.I would be interested in what your take is on this solo, what makes it so special (if you agree with Pat) and Bley's work in

general.

Surprisingly one fine player, who begged anonymity, claimed he couldn't stand to listen to Bley's music, characterizing the solo with these words: "Everything is poorly handled, out of proportion with all jazz pianistic elements... ." I was starting to think maybe I wasn't so far off, but soon it became evident his comments were clearly in the minority.

Most responses were thoughtful and laudatory. I am grateful for their studied responses, for their willingness to participate and for their generosity in trying to help me, and perhaps some of you, better understand the impact of this solo and the important and lasting influence of Mr. Bley and his music.

Several pianists suggested the answer lie in a quote from Paul himself  found on the liner notes to his album from 1963, the same year as the aforementioned Sonny Meets Hawk ( RCA)- Paul Bley with Gary Peacock (ECM).

Paul Bley:

"Chord changes had never interfered with my own way of hearing melody.  Whether playing standards with steady time and a given set of chord sequences or free rhythm and free harmony pieces where the only guide to the improviser is the vivid character of the given written composition, one's own personality should be apparent to the listener"

Markus Burger

"What I love about the "All The Things You Are" solo of Paul Bley is that Paul always focuses on developing a motive. He finds or introduces and follows and varies this motive until he introduces the next motive vs just trying to play lines that express the relationship of the chord progression.
He focuses on these motives but follows the principle of tension and release with his focus on melodic motives rather than just playing lines. Paul has an intuitive way to follow melodies and develop them in a similar way as for example J.S Bach develops motives in his violin sonatas of his cello solo suites.

His approach deeply influenced pianists like Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, that focus their playing as well on following motivic and melodic ideas even if that means that for longer periods in a solo it means that they are playing outside the changes.

Just as an anecdote: I hired Paul Bley in 1993 to play in my hometown (Wittlich, Germany)
with Jimmy Giuffre and it was great to observe this very unconventional and free way to improvise melodic lines over well known standards.

Marc Copeland:

"A big change in harmonic usage in jazz occurred in the early 1960's when a handful of musicians, some of them on piano, started bringing the use of polytonality into the music---not as an occasional garnish or an arranging tool, but as an integral, structural part of the music's improvisational sound. Paul Bley, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Keith Jarrett were some of the best-known pianists involved in this movement; Bley may well have been the first.

Not as well known was Bley's effort to help younger musicians. He would sometimes take a younger pianist whose work he liked---and this includes me---to breakfast at 3 a.m., and explain how he dealt with the business side of the music. In my case, at least, I can vouch for the fact that Bley's coaching session could be kind of life-changing.

Frank Kimbrough:

Paul Bley's solo on Sonny Rollins' "All The Things You Are", with Coleman Hawkins (Sonny Meets Hawk, RCA) was basically a career - maker for Paul.  ...the gig with Sonny Rollins was one of the last he would do as a sideman before devoting himself primarily to his own trios in the mid-sixties.

In this solo, he stretches harmony to the breaking point, something that he began doing even before his work with Ornette Coleman five years before.  By the time this solo was recorded, Paul had reached a point of maturity with these ideas, that is, finding "landing spots" harmonically, so that he could play where the harmony was GOING, rather than the chord changes at hand, disregarding, ignoring, or playing THROUGH the changes (to fool the listener) to a point of resolution, where the listener would realize that he actually WAS in the right place in the song. It's all about tension and release, where spontaneous melody takes precedence over the original harmony of the tune.  Often, Paul would play against the harmony of a phrase until the last bar or two, at which point he would briefly "land" before "taking off" as the next phrase began.

As iconoclastic as Paul seemed on the surface, many of his improvised compositions were actually based on templates of standards - that is, the basic form of the tune (which could be changed - Paul thought the AABA form contains too many A's, so he often played AABABABA), constantly reharmonized, without any direct reference to the original melody.  Bley loved the Great American Songbook, and his most frequent references were "I Can't Get Started", "Isn't It Romantic?", "Lover Man", "All The Things You Are", and "Don't Explain" - there are many examples in his discography, and he gives hints with his titles - "Started", "It Isn't", "Lovers", are the most obvious examples of titles listed above, and there are many other examples with less obvious hints.  That's part of the joy of listening to Paul Bley - you never know where his improvisations are coming from, but sometimes things sound awfully familiar, and figuring that out is part of Paul's sound of surprise

Pete Malinverni:

"Paul Bley has long been a hero of mine for reasons that are beautifully illustrated on this particular side. The first thing to be noted, though, is the Space Age solo Hawk takes, showing that nothing but original thought will work here, that poseurs need not apply.

Paul's solo is startling, in that, if heard on a simplistic level, it may seem"out". But, what I hear is someone who respects and 'plays with' the harmonic framework of the tune while making phrasing and dynamics choices that set him apart. It's that combination of fearless exploration rooted in tradition that first attracted me to Paul's playing - and that of Sonny and Hawk, too, for that matter."

Roberto Magris:

"Bley's solo is amazing to me because I can immediately recognize that it's Paul Bley. and there are not so many pianists that you can immediately recognize while playing "All The Things You Are.". I like him and especially this solo because he always take risks, he tries to find troubles and unconventional phrasings, even (or especially) when the chord progression is obvious, as in that standard. He seems not to play "All The Things You Are" but "on" "All The Things You Are" and he improvises on that song as a whole .instead of improvising on a fragment or on a specific chord progression. He seems to keep in mind the whole song.

In this solo I can hear several of his favorite patterns and it's quite paradigmatic for his style. I'd like to point out that he has no influences from Tyner/Hancock/Evans in his playing, but he comes from bebop straight to the avant-garde. His approach is much more advanced than Hawk (of course) and Sonny since he plays freely and (does) not follow exactly the chord progression. He's at the most within the tonality (as Ornette?). It's a great solo by a great musician who stands out together with Tyner, Hancock & Taylor as a master of modern/contemporary jazz piano."


Jack Reilly:

Paul Bley, in his early playing (pre; New York), was a clone of Oscar Peterson's ... Lots of fast right hand "cooking" improvised melodies and coordinated left hand chord comping which enforced and supported the right hand.

When I first listened to him in his post NYC phase, I found him more probing harmonically and melodically. He was beginning to create an original style. He recorded profusely and he told me he believed that his legacy lie there, in the recordings. He also felt that recording with different players enhanced his pianistic abilities to fit inside any playing/accompanying situation. Carla Bley also greatly influenced him musically through her compositions. He encouraged her to compose more and more.

Paul always looked forward never backward in his improvising. One can definitely hear where Keith Jarrett was very, very  influenced by Bley's improvising and pianistic abilities, in terms of his counterpoint lines.

Paul was truly an original. I am saddened by his passing.

Gary Versace:

" "All the Things You Are" is a masterful example of Bley weaving melodic constructs that imply shifting tonalities. These tonalities create  varying degrees of tension with the original set of chord changes. This ability to pivot between tonal centers and hear them in relation to the fixed harmonies of a standard tune create an amazingly  and unique melodic vision that realizes his goal of communicating one's personality to the listener. Since many of his ideas are major scale based, this also fits with his thoughts about using the 'vivid character of the written composition.' "All the Things You Are"', in spite it's many chord changes, spends much of it's time outlining only a few major keys."

Kenny Werner: 

"It's funny how famous that solo is. That was exactly the song I was going to talk about and exactly the solo. Harmonically it was just flat out some new stuff, an obtuse approach that had never been tried before. You can hear traces of it in Keith Jarrett and many great pianists that followed. I myself am extremely influenced by a few of his solos, "All the Things You Are" in particular. I think it informed my harmony and it still does today."

Denny Zeitlin: 

"I didn't read Pat's specific comments on Paul's solo, but I agree with him that it is special.  There is a relaxed intensity throughout, and excellent groove.  He is telling a story--commenting on what went before and soon pushing into very new harmonic territory, farther and farther out, but occasionally referencing the basic structure, to make what he is doing pull more deliciously against it.  The unusual shapes of his phrases and displacements add greatly to the total experience.  And his solo galvanizess Sonny into some of his most unusual and far-out playing.

Paul was pushing the envelope from the start, and always had his own thing, throughout the many decades of his career.  I'll always remember how gracious he and Carla were in inviting me to sit in when I was a musically unknown medical student visiting New York in 1963."

Conclusion:

After reading their responses it becomes obvious that Mr. Bley's music was a game changer for many. I am sure countless others were radically affected by this solo and by Bley's music in general. He was a trailblazer whose restless spirit led him on an uncompromising path throughout his over fifty years of performing. After he acquired a thorough understanding and mastery of where the music came from, it was his solo on " All the Things You Are" from 1963 that was his way of leading us all into a new direction. As Metheny said so succinctly it truly was "the shot heard 'round the world."

The Shimmery, Lush Sound of Cal Tjader- Catch the Groove- Live at the Penthouse 1964-67

Cal Tjader- Catch the Groove-Live at The Penthouse- Jazz Detective/Elemental

At the end of 2023, the producers of the labels Jazz Detective and Elemental Music released a two-disk album, Cal Tjader: Catch the Groove assembled from several wonderfully recorded live dates from 1963 through 1967.  This marvelous offering captures some of vibraphonist Tjader and his quintet's most enjoyable and compelling sets excellently recorded by Jim Wilke at Charlie Puzzo’s The Penthouse Jazz Club in Seattle, Washington.

The album is a treasure chest of fine music; a time travel adventure that gives the listener a chance to revisit some of the most grooving, often dynamically Latin-inspired jazz of the era.

Tjader was an anomaly in many ways. Originally a drummer who played with an upcoming Dave Brubeck, Tjader took up the vibraphone, picking up some tricks of the trade from guys like vibes master Terry Gibbs. Tjader’s true genius was appreciating the rhythms of Afro-Cuban music. Cal could see that the inclusion of an infectious Latin groove could energize the world of improvisational jazz and it became his calling.

Callen “Cal” Radcliffe Tjader was an unlikely standard-bearer for Latin jazz. He was born in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri of Swedish American parents. Not a drop of Latin blood flowed through this man’s veins, but that didn’t stop Tjader from proving that the music wasn’t restricted to ethnic or geographical boundaries. Cal took the world by storm, taking his beautiful, melodic and rhythmically electrified music to the crowds; making it his own.

On this album we see the two sides of Cal Tjader as both a serious jazz musician who could play the canon and creatively improvise with the best of them, and as the master of the infectious Afro-Cuban form that so captivated his followers.

The album features three different pianists including Lonnie Hewitt, Al Zulaica and the talented arranger/composer Clare Fischer. The presence of the famous Cuban percussionist Armando Peraza, who would later work extensively with the rock group Santana, just raised the level of the kineticism of this group.

The music on Cal Tjader: Catch the Groove, is sublime, with great performances, some of which were never before released, like Ellington’s “Take the “A” Train and Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way.”  But there is plenty of gold that the Tjader groups mine to perfection; Clare Fischer's wonderful “Morning,” Milt Jackson’ “Bag’s Groove,”  Guerra and Lobo’s “Reza,” Claus Ogerman’s “Sunset Boulevard,” Billy Strayhorn’s poignant “Lush Life” and Tjader’s own “Leyte” and “Soul Burst”.

It is such a pleasure to just sit back and immerse yourself in this gorgeous music. The audiences at The Penthouse were respectful and appreciative throughout this live recording. You can see why the attention was keen as you too become part of this hypnotic experience while listening. The lines are shimmery and lush; the rhythms are electric and vibrant. Cal’s vibe work is never showy, and his playing is always succinct and melodic. Despite his proficiency, Cal never used speed for speeds sake.

Sadly, Cal Tjader’s legacy has been underappreciated by the public. But his contemporaries do not doubt his importance. As the late pianist Eddie Palmieri attests to Cal’s skill in the copious and informative notes included in this splendid disc package, “Cal was unique. He was able to play the most complicated rhythmical patterns in the world.” Terry Gibbs, himself a master vibraphonist praised Cal's acumen, saying “… to me he was becoming on the same level (on the vibes) as Milt Jackson and I were.” Master vibraphonist Gary Burton acknowledges Tjader’s “…significant role in blending jazz and Latin music.”

With the important release of Cal Tjader: Catch the Groove the man and his music may get a well deserved resurgence of interest. Retroactively, Cal Tjader may get a reexamination of his talent and his importance to the music may be finally realized. For those who have never had a chance to listen to Tjader and his groups at their peak than this album is a must have.