Cal Tjader is a well-known name for those accustomed with the Latin jazz scene; he is a vibraphonist and percussionist who flirted with various genres while staying faithful to the same rhythms for more than thirty years. The Best of Cal Tjader: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, 1958-1980 is a collection of the artist’s numerous performances on the stage of the festival, including the complete 1958 concert and with famed names as his sidemen (John Lewis, Buddy DeFranco, and Dizzy Gillespie, who teamed up with Clark Terry and Al McKibbon for a revival of "Manteca").

The series sets off with a cover of "Summertime" (the only track previously released), with Tjader’s vibraphone as a central piece and recreating the song’s renowned subtlety and delicacy. Piano and clarinet improvisations soon take over, refurbishing the main theme, adding a warm tint of rhythm while keeping an overflowing pace. This unrestrained tempo will follow you throughout every each of the eight tracks, turning the collection into a remarkable listen; it’s jazz at its lightest and stimulating best, unrelenting in its tranquillity.

While the shorter songs ("Cubano Chant," "Tumbao," "If You Could See Me Now") are a perfect display of bebop peculiarities, coming in short and fragmented scraps, offering variations on an imposed melody, the longer acts commingle genres varying from blues to bossa-nova with incredible ease, keeping the natural course of sound. Relaxed and spontaneous, all of the songs are backed up by an almost lifeless rhythm section, which becomes evident only when the leading instruments (usually piano, trumpet or vibraphone) are taking turns in soloing. The barely audible percussion and bass spawn an intimate and sparse atmosphere, laying an utterly serene foundation for the others to take control of. Either calm and sparse or vibrant and dancy, the main theme will stick in one’s head straight after they are declared, thus making what is improvised into a foreseen continuation; for everything is in its place, nothing is extraneous, and not for a second does this immixture seem too much.

Despite the compilation’s fresh and lively air, there is a feeling of melancholy that shrouds every song, born from a stem in Tjader’s vibraphone. While each instrument is touching you in a different manner, the vibraphone’s lullaby-ish quality retains a unique character, unsullied yet carefully developed, drawing one in more and more from the first spin, offering a classic yet novel "any time of the day" audio experience.

-Diana Sitaru