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DRD

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  1. from the website of a German Rock'n'Roll collector - http://freenet-homepage.de/phranc/ - I will contact him about the movie. I am also familiar with "The Big Beat," yet another movie Tjader was in that is not available. Al Torre has told me about the group's appearance. Thanks for the response- Duncan
  2. Current critical consensus is that this is a not exactly a classic. However, it is a time capsule of the late sixties scene and it has an appearance by the Cal Tjader Quintet. Unfortunately, it is not on DVD or VHS for that matter. The stars are Mary Ann Mobley and John Saxon. If anyone has taped it off television, I'll pay you for a copy and you'll get an acknowledgement. I need it as research material for my biography of Cal Tjader.
  3. Many Tjader fans may now be aware that Cal has been left out of the 50th Anniversary festivities at Monterey. Given the fact that Cal was there from the beginning in 1958 and that his April 20, 1959 "Jazz Festival Preview" concert saved his friend Jimmy Lyons from going under and put the festival on the map, this is a glaring omission. I sent a letter to Tim Jackson, General Manager of the festival. His prompt and cordial reply came in less than a week. Mr. Jackson's reason for leaving Cal out was that there wouldn't be enough time to properly acknowledge his overall contribution. He went on to say that a Tjader tribute will be held within a few years. I understand the time factor but he could still mention Cal and tell the audience about the upcoming tribute. Surely there is enough time for that. Cal's daughter Liz will write a letter on that topic. We have thoroughly discussed it. The lack of respect that Cal Tjader has received from jazz critics and historians over the years amazes me but the Monterey snub is really hard to understand. No one artist has contributed more to Monterey as far as I know. Maybe Jackson will change his mind after the second letter.
  4. DRD

    Bud Freeman

    Larry, That is interesting about what Prez said in the interview. My dad William knew Lester Young. He started going to Lester's gigs when he was a young man in St. Louis. Over the years, he got to know him fairly well and saw him at the Blackhawk in San Francisco a number of times. Dad says Lester spoke very little and often wouldn't announce the tunes he was playing. The other musicians just had to be quick and knowledegable. He recalls that Prez said he was influenced by Trumbauer but can't remember for sure if Freeman was mentioned. I would agree with you that Lester probably did like Bix as well. But the liner notes to the Aladdin Prez collection confirm that Prez must have acknowledged Freeman. But Prez was an eccentric and a drunk and therefore was quite unpredictable. He acknowledged Freeman early and then dropped him later. Who knows why ?
  5. DRD

    Bud Freeman

    My thoughts exactly. Paul Gonsalves kind of reminds me of Bud Freeman's playing--kind of a supple, loose style. I wonder if Pres listened much to Bud? Not implying an equivalence between them or anything, but Pres had some of that looseness too. BTW, I couldn't find the Balliett quote I was thinking of, but I did come across another phrase where Balliett called Freeman "jouncy and monotonous". Not bouncy, but jouncy. As a matter of fact, Lester "Prez" Young counted Bud Freeman among his early influences. He also liked Frankie Trumbauer. Check out the liner notes to "Lester Young-The Complete Aladdin Sessions'" an excellent two CD set on Blue Note. This is one of many facts that Ken Burns left out of his film "Jazz." According to him and Wynton Marsalis, white musicians were influenced by black musicians and not the other way around. The truth is that cross pollination has been happening since the inception of jazz. Stan Getz was influenced by Lester and Joe Henderson was in turn influenced by Getz. Herbie Hancock was influenced by Bill Evans. The list goes on. Another eighteen hours could be filled with the master musicians, mostly of European descent, that Burns ignored.
  6. DRD

    Latin for Dancers

    In 1957, Fantasy put together the stereo tracks from the 1954 Tjader sessions, including the previously unissued "Squeeze Me", for the album "Latin for Dancers." Was the album released in 1957 or later ? Someone posted that it was 1960 a while ago but I don't remember who. This info is for the Cal Tjader biography, to be published by McFarland in 2008, and the correct info will net a Tjader fan an acknowledgement.
  7. DRD

    Cal Tjader's death

    Michael, Thanks for the info on Along Comes Cal. The liners are somewhat misleading. I was aware that you knew of the exact personnel for the Verve LPs. You are a serious Tjader collector but not everyone who posts on this site is. That information was for those who may not be as familiar with all the details of Cal's career as you are. It was important that they understood just how much Cal's band participated on the LPs. Your statement was quite general and didn't mention that the working band did record on Cal's regular LPs (with guest(s) musicians). They didn't just work together on speciality albums like Time For Two as you stated. Just more specific information for those are interested. No big thing.
  8. DRD

    Cal Tjader's death

    Cal pianists alternated between piano and Fender Rhodes both in concert and in the studio during that time period. I prefer acoustic piano as well. However, Fender Rhodes sounds great on many of the tunes Cal chose to do. The arrangements are wonderful. I don't think they sounded muddy but that's just a difference of opinion. Cal never ditched the Fender Rhodes completely. If you want to hear a Concord release without Fender Rhodes, listen to The Shining Sea and Good Vibes. They are available on the CDs Both Sides of the Coin and Cool Fire respectively.
  9. DRD

    Cal Tjader's death

    That is partly due to the fact that they used studio musicians rather than Cal's working bands for most of the Verve albums. Or they used a part of his band among the studio guys for special recording projects. Among the Verve LPs, only those marked * are with his working band of the time. Verve V6-8419* Cal Tjader - In A Latin Bag Verve V6-8459* Cal Tjader - Saturday Night, Sunday Night At The Blackhawk Verve V6-8470 Cal Tjader Plays The Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil Verve V6-8472 Anita O'Day & Cal Tjader - Time For Two Verve V6-8507 Cal Tjader - Several Shades Of Jade Verve V6-8531* Cal Tjader - Soña Libré Verve V6-8575 Cal Tjader - Breeze From The East Verve V6-8585 Cal Tjader - Warm Wave Verve V6-8614 Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce Verve V6-8626 Cal Tjader - Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof Verve V6-8637 Cal Tjader - Soul Burst Verve V6-8651 Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri - el sonido nuevo Verve V6-8671 Cal Tjader - Along Comes Cal Verve V6-8730 Cal Tjader - Hip Vibrations Verve V6-8769 Cal Tjader - The Prophet It's worth pointing out that not all the albums combining Cal's working band with studio personnel were speciality projects. For instance, the majority of the tracks on Soul Sauce feature Cal's working band of the time ( Lonnie Hewitt on piano, John Terry Hilliard on bass, Johnny Rae on drums and Armando Peraza on percussion). Alberto Valdes joins the band on percussion and Willie Bobo on jawbone and vocals for the title track only. The remaining cuts feature guest musicians plus Peraza. For Soul Bird, seven tracks feature only Cal's band (same as on Soul Sauce) and the five other cuts feature studio musicians joined by Cal's conguero Armando Peraza. Both sessions were recorded at different times. Note on Soul Bird: the LP's personnel listings are not entirely correct. The CD corrects the inexcusable errors. Lastly, Along Comes Cal features two live tracks with Cal's band (Al Zulaica on piano, Stan Gilbert on bass, Carl Burnett on drums and Armando Peraza on congas). The remaining tracks feature guest artists plus Armando Peraza, again recorded at a different time. The specialty projects were Time For Two , which featured Cal's working band of the time: Johnny Rae, Freddie Schreiber and Lonnie Hewitt. Although Hewitt was no longer a Tjader sideman at that point (he had just quit Cal's band in late 1961), he did come back to record some cuts with Cal just for this LP. Changuito (not officially listed but he was there) did some gigs with Cal at the time but I have yet to definitely determine whether he was a regular band member but the evidence so far says that he was. Only pianist Bob Corwin came for studio work on some tracks. Another specialty project was Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil, which featured a woodwind section and other additional guest musicians. Cal's working band was also featured: Clare Fischer, Hewitt's replacement, did the arrangements and was on piano, Freddie Schreiber on bass, Johnny Rae on drums and timbales and Changuito on congas. In addition, Paul Horn was on flute in the woodwind section. It's true that Horn was never a regular member of Cal's working band. However, Horn did work a number of Cal's big concert gigs such as the Hollywood Bowl (exact date still to be determined) and the Monterey Jazz Festivals in October 1958 and October 1959. Horn was also featured in the classic "preview concert" held indoors at the Sunset School Auditorium in Carmel on April 20, 1959. Cal saved Jimmy Lyons bacon with that concert (The 1958 Monterey Festival concert had many great artists but suffered from poor ticket distribution). All serious Tjader fans have Concert by the Sea Vols. 1 & 2 and or the Monterey Concerts CD. Horn also did many studio recordings with Cal. He was definitely part of Cal's family of musicians from 1958-62. Lastly, Johnny Rae was the only band member to participate in Several Shades of Jade. Ditto for Lonnie Hewitt on Breeze From The East.
  10. DRD

    Cal Tjader's death

    In March of '04 Concord released a two-CD set called The Best of the Concord Years. I hadn't heard any of his Concord work till I got that set. Tjader recorded six albums for Concord. Asuming that the tracks selected really are the best of those six LPs, I would say that his work for Concord was not as good as that of his first Fantasy stint, Verve and Skye. I've only heard one album from his second Fantasy stint, Tambu, which I like; but I can't make a generalization based on one album. The vast majority of Cal's seventies work was for Fantasy. Concord mainly represents the early eighties. La Onda Va Bien was the only Concord LP recorded in the seventies (July, 1979). If you want to know Cal's work in the seventies, check out his second go round with Fantasy. Although not as great as his fifties period, there are many excellent albums to choose from. The early '70's LPs "Tjader", "Last Bolero in Berkeley", "Puttin' It All Together" and "Last Night When We Were Young" are not yet available on CD. Tambu is a very fine LP and I would also strongly recommend The Grace Cathedral Concert, Amazonas and Here and There to start with but you really can't go wrong with Tjader. He was simply a force of nature. Only Breeze From The East (1963), an album he was pushed into, is what you would call a mediocre album but even that one has a few good cuts. In my humble opinion, The Best of the Concord Years is not merely good but an outstanding sampling of his Concord work. Although his health was in decline, Tjader's artistry continued to grow and his Concord albums reflect this. Again, to my ears, all his Concord LPs were superb. The tragic fact is that Cal was more in demand at the end of his career than he had been since the Soul Sauce years.
  11. DRD

    Cal Tjader's death

    Poncho Sanchez was there when Cal died. He has told me that some people were confused about the exact date of Cal's death for some reason. We both speculated that it was the time difference in the Philippines. According to Poncho, it was Wed May 5, 1982. Because Cal was a second father to him, it is etched firmly in his mind. Also, as a Chicano, Cinco De Mayo is very important to Poncho. Cal's death on that day is a special coincedence for him. Poncho was with Cal for seven and a half years, from December 31, 1974 to the end. That is the longest tenure of any Tjader sideman. Lonnie Hewitt also was with Cal for over seven years but it was non concurrent. Two mid period stints: Early 1959-late 1961, mid 1962- mid 1966 and December 31, 1974- June 1976. Peraza had two seperate sixties stints totaling seven years. Concurrently speaking, Rob Fisher is second with six plus years: Early 1976 to end. Al Zulaica also had six plus years 1966-1972. Nobody else has more than five. The average tenure for Tjader sidemen was one to two years. It didn't necessarily have to do with bad behavior (although that did occasionally happen) but Cal was always creating new sounds and changing his sidemen periodically was part of that.
  12. This is for those those who would like to know about Cal's military service. He enlisted in the Navy as a corman (medic) in the summer of 1943 before his 18th birthday on July 16th. I still have to pinpoint the exact date but I believe it was only two or three weeks before his birthday. His mother had to sign for him since he was technically still a minor. He served in the Philippines fighting the Japanese until the Pacific war was nearly over. I have a letter Cal sent to home dated July 6, 1945 from the Oakland, Calif. Naval base but I know he was stationed in Guam for awhile as well. When I get exact dates for his initial enlistment and Guam stay, I will let everyone know. -Duncan Reid I spoke with Cal's brother Rick about the military service. As for his enlistment date, it was sometime after Cal graduated from highschool. Late June or early July of 1943 is as close as I am able to pinpoint the date. Later on, Cal was sent to Guam as the Pacific war was ending in the summer of 1945. He was then transferred back to Oakland early in 1946. He spent two weeks in Oakland before being sent home to San Mateo. The reason Cal's July 1945 letter says Oakland is that was where letters were sent for overseas Northern California personnel. So Cal listed that as his return postal address.
  13. The biggest laugh was when thy would announce the winners, and would have one of their artists do a two page spread of the Playboy All Star Band. Typically, it would go something like this: Trumpets - Miles Davis, Al Hirt, Dizzy Gillespie, Herb Alpert Trombones - J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Bob Brookmeyer Saxes - Cannonball Adderley, Paul Desmond (alto), John Coltrane, Stan Getz (tenor, Gerry Mulligan (bari) Rhythm Section - Dave Brubeck (piano), Charlie Byrd (guitar), Charles Mingus (bass), Buddy Rich (drums), Lionel Hampton (vibes) Vocalists - Frank Sinatra (male), Barbra Streisand (female), Beatles (group) I find it hard to believe that the Beatles or Streisand would be in a jazz poll. I have some Playboy back issues. I don't remember them including pop or rock stars every year. I'll have to check. Was Cal Tjader ever listed for vibes? And did he ever win? Another thing to check since Cal didn't get all the respect that he so richly deserved.
  14. DRD

    Tjader discography

    That may be caused by the pics I inserted - in case you have a newer version of WORD like mine it may cause problems with the formatting. I will e-mail you version without the pics, that should solve the problem. Actually, I have a Mac with the latest operating system (10.4.6) but that may or may not change what you need to do. Thanks for addressing the issue.
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