Vibraphonist
Cal Tjader took a brief vacation from playing Afro-Cuban jazz to record this fine straight-ahead bop set. The 1956 LP matches
Tjader with the underrated but always swinging pianist
Gerald Wiggins, bassist
Eugene Wright (shortly before he joined the
Dave Brubeck Quartet), and drummer
Bill Douglass. They perform four basic originals (two apiece by
Wiggins and
Wright) and five standards, including a swinging "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Our Love Is Here to Stay." On this date, more than almost any other one,
Tjader displays his debt to
Milt Jackson's style.