Cal Tjader Tjunction

If the search feature can be trusted, we do not have an all-purpose Cal Tjader thread.

Here it is.

I think I may have more albums by Cal Tjader than nearly any single artist, surpassed only by Ennio Morricone and Duke Ellington.

So here is a place to talk about all things Cal Tjader, from his early days with George Shearing, to his classic run of 1950s Latin Jazz albums on Fantasy, from his groovy 1960s albums on Verve, to his groovy late-60s albums on Skye, from his early 70s return to Fantasy, to his final albums on Concord.

What do you love about Cal Tjader? Which are your favorite albums or tracks?

 

Great to see that there are so many Cal Tjader fans here!

 

I'll join... I've been playing the DCC cd of "Cal Tjader Plugs In" non-stop. Steve did not do this one but it still sounds great.

I'm not sure I've heard anything from the Concord era, but his music from all the other eras maintain a very high batting average. Even his covers of pop tunes have a nice kick to them.

I've been trying to find interviews with him and it's kind of shocking that for a jazz legend of his stature, a google search of "Cal Tjader interview" comes up with next to nothing.

 

I really enjoy Cal. I have 4 or 5 of his albums. I always check out anything I see by him.

 

My latest Cal dig is Soul Burst (also on Verve). Was in print on cd briefly about 10 years ago. Great sound, better remastering than Soul Sauce. Cal has a flute in the band also, so it will give your tweeters a workout.

 

Love him in general, but especially dig his record with Anita O'Day.

 

I know mostly his Verve stuff and have a couple of Skye albums and
the live Audio Fidelity SACD. Anything else I've ever heard
by him I dig. I love his sound and his touch..
It's a total cool breeze. I need some of his Fantasy stuff though.

I've always dug this one from Soul Burst (My favorite.)
ever since I heard it when I was little. My Uncles were into him.
It's just a short jam, but it wails.
Amazing congas by Carlos "Potato" Valdez.

"Descarga Cubana" - Cal Tjader


Soul Burst really needs to be reissued again.

 

The 59 Monterey Concerts are excellent, hard to find a better version of Doxy.

Know the Fantasy stuff better due to his working with Guaraldi and his time in SF.

Soul Sauce is also great but not familiar with his other Verve releases.

 

Love me some Cal, all eras, but especially the Verve years, which were my dad's albums and thus my first exposure.

Cal's statement that he himself was 'not an innovator, but a participator' certainly sells him way short.

 

Well, I don't know. I had never heard of him until I started listening to KKJZ-Long Beach (GREAT station, streams at
www.jazzandblues.org/programming/listen/). And I just really liked his stuff, one of my favorites after my top which is the wacky Gil Evans.

 

Count me in as a big fan as well. I have quite a bit centered more on the Fantasy and Verve era though I have one or two Concord titles too I think. He had a lot of talent go through his bands including Clare Fischer who really had an afinity towards Latin music and was a great arranger and keyboard player.

 

When I started digging into his catalog back in college, I was surprised to learn about his time with Brubeck. It's good stuff, too - he's got his style definitely in place even that early.

'Leyte' might be one of his hardest-swinging tunes from the '60s. You can feel the band dig in at solo time, and Lonnie Hewitt's turn is magnificent. There's a cascara rhythm on the timbale shells on the last chorus 'til the end that just knocks me out, too.

Interesting title, too - Cal was a corpsman and served during the invasion of Leyte.

 

I don't have too many Cal Tjader albums, but I really like 'Live at the Funky Quarters'. That one has some killer Fender Rhodes playing on it.

 

I like the Verve stuff like Soul Burst, might like Soul Bird Whippenpoof even better. The late '60s stuff was interesting, like Sounds Out Bacharach, still the mid to late '60s were my favorite era.

 

Here's Cal with Stan Getz, '58:

 

Listening to Cal Tjader "Our Blues". A two album CD of Concert on the Campus, and Cal Tjader. Great stuff, and about $10. Sound is great for the live portion, too. Not as good as the Carnegie Hall cds, but much better than I would have thought possible.

 

I had a video up on youtube several years ago that included a snippet of his music from my collection. I received a kind note from his daughter complimenting the video and included a fond remembrance of her father.

I'm a Tjader Tjunkie!

 

I love Cal.. i have dozens of his albums..probably about 50.... they are plentiful and cheap...and they are great... I particularly like his albums recorded with Al Zulaica on piano.... I think Al retired or something and became a professor at Berkeley

Anyways I love Cal's Verve stuff , the SKYE stuff is awesome and the Fantasy stuff up to about 1975 is also incredible... really great stuff all around... the SKYE stuff I also like cause they are really nice heavy gatefold well done issues... the covers are cool... I probably could use a few more of his early ones (the ones on red wax) but they are the harder ones to track down...

The Verve record he did with Eddie Palmieri is also the bomb!

I also have a record of his where he signed his name on the inner sleeve (I wish he'd signed the cover!)....

I just love Cal's funky latin sound

 

I'd love Soul Burst and La Onda va bien to be reissued on vinyl!