This album was recorded "live" at San Francisco's Blackhawk jazz club on January 20th,1957. The music itself is very good, as there is no one smoother than Cal Tjader on vibes. The same can be said for his pianist, Vince Guaraldi. However, on this particular project, the quartet seemed to have attempted to produce a "studio like" sound in a "live" surrounding. In doing this, the album really lost a lot of it's potential luster. There is absolutely no dialog, all spaces between songs are done with hasty fade out, and Tjader himself saw to it that any extra sounds from the club itself were kept to an extreme minium. And with the excellent accoustics the Blackhawk provided, this album could easily fool the passive listener as a studio recording rather than done before a live audience. The title of the album, "Jazz At The Blackhawk", is well suited though; "Live at the Blackhawk" would have been somewhat of a misnomer. The music itself being superb, this album is worth owning, but if looking for music with that "live club sound" this album comes up short.
