Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce

I still remember the first time I heard Cal Tjader. I was in college and was dating a woman. We went on a date and had a bite to eat on the Delmar Loop area of St. Louis. Afterward, we stopped by the stellar used record store, Vintage Vinyl. We browsed around and she pulled out Cal Tjader's 1954 Mambo with Tjader. She went up and asked them to put it on and began to dance to the first track, Mamblues. Soon almost everyone in the place dancing and jamming. The beginning of a memorable night. Ah, youth....

Tjader was born in St. Louis in 1925 and moved to San Mateo when he was 2. After serving in WWII, he attended San Jose State on the GI bill, intending to teach. He transfer to San Francisco State where he took timpani lesson. While in San Fransisco, he met up with Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond and became the drummer in the Dave Brubeck octet. The octet broke up, but Tjader and Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck trio and became a fixture in San Francisco jazz scene. It was during this time that Tjader taught himself the vibraphone.

The trio disbanded in 1951 after Brubeck's diving accident in Hawaii and Tjader bounced around and became more influenced by the Latin Jazz sound. He recorded several album on the Fantasy Label before moving over to Verve in the early 60's. He recorded with a wide range of artists including Donald Byrd, Anita O'Day, Willie Bobo, Armando Peraza, Kenny Burrell and a young Chick Corea.

He continued to record prolifically but was hurt in the 70's by the huge growth of Rock and Roll. He played on and in 1980, he earned his only Grammy, winning Best Latin Recording for La Onda Va Bien. He died in 1982 while on tour in Manila.

Today Hump Day Retro-Closet tune is Soul Sauce, Tjader's biggest hit, off his 1964 recording of the same name.

Pink Martini - Let's Never Stop Falling In Love

Portland Oregon band Pink Martini is a difficult band to categorize. They blend genres of music such as Latin, lounge, classical, and jazzand their music has often been described as "vintage music". Band Leader, Thomas Lauderdale describes the band's sound as "music of the world without being world music. It's kind of like urban symphonic crossed with Cuban/Brazilian street Carnival parade, Breakfast at Tiffany's/United Nations kind of thing." Ok, got that?

However you describe their music, it is a wonderful listen. Their music has appeared in several film such as Nurse Betty and Mr. & Mrs. Smith; television shows such as The Sopranos and The West Wing. Their music is even the background/setup music for Microsoft's Windows Server 2003.

They released their debut album, Sympathique, in 1997 on their own label, Heinz Records, and sold over 1.3 million copies. It took seven years to release their follow up, Hang On Little Tomato, which starts with the track Let's Never Stop Falling In Love.

Ibrahim Ferrer - Melodía del Río

Cuban singer, Ibrahim Ferrer, was catapulted from obscurity and poverty to international fame in the twilight of his life. He was born in 1927 when his mother went into labor at a dance. Orphaned at age 12, he earned a living busking on the streets of Havana and joined a group the next year. He was fairly popular in Cuba in the 50's and the time immediately following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. But in the early 60's, Cuba dived into poverty and Ferrer was forced to move to the slums of Havana with his wife and 11 children. He continued to sing and took odd jobs to keep money coming in.

Looking on the bright side, he said "The music got better after the Revolution because we weren't playing for tourists so much". He 'retired' from music in 1991, but was coaxed out of retirement in 1996, when Cuban musician Juan de Marcos González and American Guitarist Ry Cooder traveled to Cuba in search of musicians for a project. They were blown away by the now 69-year Ferrer who along with 89-year-old guitarist Compay Segundo and the 77-year-old pianist Rubén González recorded Buena Vista Social Club. The album, released in 1999, sold over four million copies and made Ferrer and international celebrity.

Melodía del Río (River Melody) is off his last release, Mi Sueño, an album devoted to the bolero. The album was released in 2006, a year after his death in Havana of multiple organ failure.

Marc Antoine - Cruisin'

Marc Antoine is modern jazz fusion guitarist who takes his classical training and blends a pop-latin sound to make some great music. Born in Paris, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris where he developed his skills learning classical guitar.

Cruisin' is off his 2001 release of the same name. Although, not his best album, the title track is a great song that makes me think of sitting on the beach, sun on my face and sipping on a drink with an little umbrella stuck in it.