When the jazz critic Joachim-Ernst Behrend said that Cal Tjader had discovered an inspired and intelligent connection between Latin American music and jazz, he surely must have been referring to Tjader's exceptional talent for rhythm and art of phrasing. This vibraphone player not only masters all manner of basic rhythms such as mambo, cha-cha and numerous others found in the southern half of the globe, he is capable of weaving them together to form a complex rhythmic web..This percussive framework is in itself music even before the very first chord has sounded. But there's more to the album "Soul Burst" than that: melodies abound, such as two sensitive songs composed by Kurt Weill. Just listen to how the brilliant Cal Tjader brings every single note of "The Bilbao Song" to glow, supported by slow-moving but close-knit rhythmic patterns. And then there are several Afro-Cuban jazz numbers, such as "Descarga Cubana" which circles around a chord, and "Cuchy Frito Man" with its penetrating flute sound. If you're looking for blues, then you'll find that too - in the title song.