Good Vibes

One shimmering instrument became melody, harmony and percussion — from West Coast Latin jazz to New York's hornless sextets.

The vibraphone is percussion that sustains: struck metal bars that can carry melody, harmony, riffs and improvisation while still attacking like a rhythm instrument. In California, Cal Tjader built a branch of Latin jazz around that contradiction, joined by musicians including Mongo Santamaría and Willie Bobo. In New York, Pete Terrace, Joe Cuba, the New Swing Sextet and Louie Ramírez made the instrument practical as a hornless front line for compact dance bands. Tjader's 1966 record with Eddie Palmieri brought those coasts together. This is how shimmer learned to hold the clave.

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