Cal Tjader

Cal Tjader was undoubtedly probably the most popular non-Latino leader of Latin jazz rings, a fantastic distinction. From your 1950s until his loss of life, he was virtually the point guy between your worlds of Latin jazz and mainstream bop; his light, rhythmic, joyous vibraphone way could comfortably accept both designs. His several recordings for Dream and Verve and long-standing existence in the SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Bay Region eventually experienced a profound impact upon Carlos Santana, and therefore Latin rock and roll. He also performed drums and bongos, the second option most notably within the George Shearing Quintet’s puckishly entitled “Rap Your Problems in Drums,” and would sometimes sit down in on piano aswell. Tjader analyzed music and education at SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA State University before starting up with fellow Bay Region citizen Dave Brubeck because the drummer within the Brubeck Trio from 1949 to 1951. Then caused Alvino Rey, led his very own group, and in 1953, became a member of George Shearing’s after that hugely well-known quintet being a vibraphonist and percussionist. It had been in Shearing’s music group that Tjader’s romance with Latin music started, ignited by Shearing’s bassist Al McKibbon, nurtured by connection with Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaria, and Armando Peraza, and galvanized with the ’50s mambo trend. When he still left Shearing the next year, Tjader quickly formed his very own music group that emphasized the Latin component yet also performed mainstream jazz. Bobo and Santamaria ultimately joined Tjader’s music group as sidemen, and Vince Guaraldi offered for some time as pianist and contributor towards the band’s songbook (“Ginza,” “Thinking about You, MJQ”). Tjader documented a long group of mainly Latin jazz albums for Illusion from the middle-’50s through the first ’60s, switching in 1961 to Verve, where under Creed Taylor’s aegis he extended his stylistic palette and was teamed with performers like Lalo Schifrin, Anita O’Day, Kenny Burrell, and Donald Byrd. On the way, Tjader were able to score a strike in 1965 with “Spirit Sauce,” a reworking of Dizzy Gillespie/Chano Pozo’s “Guacha Guaro,” which Tjader acquired previously trim for Illusion. Tjader came back to Illusion in the 1970s, after that in 1979 transferred over to the brand new Concord Picante label, where he continued to be until his loss of life.