Cal Tjader to get things rolling on this Sunday – recorded live at the legendary Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach in February 1969 and recorded by KCRW-FM in Santa Monica.
Cal Tjader is often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician, both his parents were Swedish and he was born in St Louis. Growing up, he explored other jazz idioms, especially small group modern jazz, even as he continued to perform the music of Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Although his main instrument was the vibraphone, Tjader was also accomplished on the drums, bongos, congas, timbales, and the piano. He worked with many musicians from several cultures. He is often linked to the development of Latin rock and acid jazz. Although the fusion of Jazz with Latin music is often pigeonholed as “Latin Jazz”, Tjader’s works swung freely between both styles. His Grammy award in 1980 for his album La Onda Va Bien capped off a career that spanned over 40 years.
Cal Tjader’s legacy is associated with that of Gábor Szabó and Gary McFarland, who worked and founded Skye Records together (the PANDORA archive spells Szabó without the acute accent). The American hip-hop band A Tribe Called Quest sampled Tjader’s “Aquarius” (from The Prophet) as an outro to most of the songs on their album Midnight Marauders.
Tjader’s work is estimated to have been sampled in at least 214 tracks.
Dive in – relax and stay sane. We got this.
