Tjader discography

[DRD]

Mike, I've noticed some symbols on your disco. Sometimes they partially obscure the writing. On "Time For Two", you note that Wilfredo Vincente is not credited on the LP or CD, which is true. You also list Changuito as well. He is not credited on the LP or CD either. Did they both play congas or did one play bongos? Also, you listed all the Shearing 12 inch LPs together with the tunes underneath. Which tunes go with what LP?

On a related issue, I discovered yet another Fantasy error. The original version of "Cubano Chant" was the product of two seperate recording sessions. The first took place on November 11, 1955 while Tjader and company were finishing up a road trip in New York City. Fantasy lists Manny Duran on piano and Armando Peraza on conga and bongos. That is wrong. Richard Wyands was on piano, Luis Miranda on congas and Peraza on bongos. Cal was on timbales, Jerome Richardson on flute and Al Mckibbon on bass. That part is correct. You'll notice that the first version of the tune fades out after a little over two minutes. What follows is the second version, which Fantasy did not document. The second version, which probably took place after Cal returned from the fall of '55 road trip later in November, features Cal on vibes, Manny and Carlos Duran on piano and bass respectively, Luis Miranda on congas and Benny Velarde on timbales as per usual for that time.The second session was recorded in San Francisco. I confirmed all this with Benny Velarde and Luis Miranda.

Earlier today I confirmed with Al Torre that he did not play on "Tumbao", "I've Waited So Long" and "Mambo at the "M". In fact, Al only played on two straight ahead albums, "Jazz at the Blackhawk" and "Cal Tjader". For some reason, he was never featured on the Latin flavored recordings, just in live performances. However, his band mates, Vince Guaraldi, Eugene Wright and Luis Kant were all featured on the Latin jazz tunes on various occasions. Also, Al said the group was on a western "Jazz a la Carte" tour put on by Irving Granz (brother of Norman) in September of 1957 and Cal would not have had time to record that month.

Instead, "Tumbao", "I've Waited So Long" and "Mambo at the "M" must have been recorded in November '57 after they returned from a cross country road trip. Although "Tumbao" does not have a drummer on it, there is in fact a timbales player. In this case Benny Velarde, a former band member at that time, was a featured guest. You can clearly hear the timbale stick making time on the side of the drum as is tradtional with timbaleros. I also heard the cymbal towards the end of the tune. Someone plays the cencerro during Kant's conga solo as well. At the beginning of "Tumbao", the bongos are heard at the same time as the timbales, Cal's vibes and the congas. But who is playing bongos when the timbales, bongos and congas are heard together? Benny can't play bongos and timbales at the same time. He usually would switch off from one to the other on previous records. I would say Kant but he is playing congas and Cal is playing the vibes. I don't think they did overdubs in 1957. I called Luis Kant and couldn't reach him so I called his friend Luis Miranda. Luis Kant died one month ago of cancer. He didn't tell anybody that he had it according to Miranda. I know he didn't tell me. Luis Kant was a good guy and he will be missed. I told Benny Velarde because he was also a friend. Benny remembered "Tumbao", "Mambo at the "M"..ect but he doesn't recall any specifics. Naturally, he recalls things that happened while he was in the band with more detail than the occasional gig or studio date with Cal afterwards. Maybe you have an idea about "Tumbao".

A note on Luis Miranda. Luis Miranda joined Cal in the fall of 1955 not 1956 as it says on the discography. He was with Cal for one year. As I mentioned earlier, he was on the original version of "Cubano Chant", "Lamento de Hodi" and "Buhuto (Nanigo 6/8)".

Edited May 21, 2006 by Tjader Biographer

[mikeweil]

Mike, I've noticed some symbols on your disco. Sometimes they partially obscure the writing.

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.

On "Time For Two", you note that Wilfredo Vincente is not credited on the LP or CD, which is true. You also list Changuito as well. He is not credited on the LP or CD either. Did they both play congas or did one play bongos?

Changuito is Wilfredo Vicente's nickname! He was credited only on the Mosaic Anita O'Day box set. He also appears on cal's first Verve LP "In A Latin Bag" and the later "Plays The Music Of Mexico And Brazil" - with Cal he plays only congas, but he can play any Cuban percussion instrument - he is one of the masters, inventor of the Songo rhythm, founder of the band Los Van Van and the author of a great method on timbales playing.

Also, you listed all the Shearing 12 inch LPs together with the tunes underneath. Which tunes go with what LP?

Use the album index at the end of the disco to identify the albums by their issue numbers.

On a related issue, I discovered yet another Fantasy error. The original version of "Cubano Chant" was the product of two seperate recording sessions. The first took place on November 11, 1955 while Tjader and company were finishing up a road trip in New York City. Fantasy lists Manny Duran on piano and Armando Peraza on conga and bongos. That is wrong. Richard Wyands was on piano, Luis Miranda on congas and Peraza on bongos. Cal was on timbales, Jerome Richardson on flute and Al Mckibbon on bass. That part is correct. You'll notice that the first version of the tune fades out after a little over two minutes. What follows is the second version, which Fantasy did not document. The second version, which probably took place after Cal returned from the fall of '55 road trip later in November, features Cal on vibes, Manny and Carlos Duran on piano and bass respectively, Luis Miranda on congas and Benny Velarde on timbales as per usual for that time.The second session was recorded in San Francisco. I confirmed all this with Benny Velarde and Luis Miranda.

Yes I noticed that fade - thanks for clearing this up!

Earlier today I confirmed with Al Torre that he did not play on "Tumbao", "I've Waited So Long" and "Mambo at the "M". In fact, Al only played on two straight ahead albums, "Jazz at the Blackhawk" and "Cal Tjader". For some reason, he was never featured on the Latin flavored recordings, just in live performances. However, his band mates, Vince Guaraldi, Eugene Wright and Luis Kant were all featured on the Latin jazz tunes on various occasions. Also, Al said the group was on a western "Jazz a la Carte" tour put on by Irving Granz (brother of Norman) in September of 1957 and Cal would not have had time to record that month.

Instead, "Tumbao", "I've Waited So Long" and "Mambo at the "M" must have been recorded in November '57 after they returned from a cross country road trip. Although "Tumbao" does not have a drummer on it, there is in fact a timbales player. In this case Benny Velarde, a former band member at that time, was a featured guest. You can clearly hear the timbale stick making time on the side of the drum as is tradtional with timbaleros. I also heard the cymbal towards the end of the tune. Someone plays the cencerro during Kant's conga solo as well. At the beginning of "Tumbao", the bongos are heard at the same time as the timbales, Cal's vibes and the congas. But who is playing bongos when the timbales, bongos and congas are heard together? Benny can't play bongos and timbales at the same time. He usually would switch off from one to the other on previous records. I would say Kant but he is playing congas and Cal is playing the vibes. I don't think they did overdubs in 1957. I called Luis Kant and couldn't reach him so I called his friend Luis Miranda. Luis Kant died one month ago of cancer. He didn't tell anybody that he had it according to Miranda. I know he didn't tell me. Luis Kant was a good guy and he will be missed. I told Benny Velarde because he was also a friend. Benny remembered "Tumbao", "Mambo at the "M" etc. but he doesn't recall any specifics. Naturally, he recalls things that happened while he was in the band with more detail than the occasional gig or studio date with Cal afterwards. Maybe you have an idea about "Tumbao".

I am a percussionist myself, and there is no way to play "Mambo at the M" with only Cal, Luis Kant, and Benny Velarde - there must have been another percussionist! .. too bad Benny can't remember. I listened again and tried to identify the playing style: It could be Armando Peraza. I can't think of any other bongo player from Cal's circle that played that way. But the focus is clearly on Luis Kant on this session, who wrote "Mambo at the M". During the conga solo on "Tumbao", both the cascara playing on the shells of the timbales and the hand-held cowbell (cencerro) of the bongo player are heard, as you noted. (If you have any questions about Cuban percussion terminology, ask them!) Maybe you ask Benny for a session with Luis Kant, Armando Peraza and himself, maybe it klicks ....

Sad to hear Luis Kant passed away - he was a great conguero, very underrated.

A note on Luis Miranda. Luis Miranda joined Cal in the fall of 1955 not 1956 as it says on the discography. He was with Cal for one year. As I mentioned earlier, he was on the original version of "Cubano Chant", "Lamento de Hodi" and "Buhuto (Nanigo 6/8)".

I will correct my disco according to your research and send you the new version. Good to hear Luis Miranda is still around - he was one of the greatest congueros ever!!!

Edited May 21, 2006 by mikeweil

[DRD]

Mike, I've noticed some symbols on your disco. Sometimes they partially obscure the writing.

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.

[DRD]

Mike Weil

Edited May 24, 2006 by Tjader Biographer