Mambo with Tjader was one of vibraphonist and composer Cal Tjader's first major recordings. Fascinated with the rhythms and atmospheres of Latin music, Tjader was one of the first musicians to successfully fuse South American musical styles with straight-ahead jazz. In retrospect, the lush, laid-back, vibes-heavy groove of Tjader's inventions anticipates the "lounge" music of the '50s and '60s -- offering the sort of soft, swinging soundtrack appropriate for the consumption of dry martinis on leatherette love seats. But Mambo with Tjader is valuable for more than mere kitsch factor. Over the course of the album's 12 tracks, a rich tapestry of tropical percussion works through three rhythmic models -- the mambo, the cha-cha, and the bolero. Overlaid with jazz structures and Tjader's easygoing vibes playing, this set is a tasty cross-section of early Tropicalia. While the disc lacks the hot salsa that would characterize El Sonido Nuevo or the large-scale orchestrations of the composer's collaborations with Lalo Schifrin, Mambo with Tjader is a vintage exploration of the fusion of jazz and Latin music