As I write this, Vince Guaraldi's classic album 'Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus' is spinning on the turntable. "Moon River", to be specific. Guaraldi always did dig a good Mancini tune. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Some context is in order. For years now, I've gravitated towards playing that special brand (some would say [...]
To say these are uncertain times would be an understatement. Every day there seems to be more bad news, more news of orders and decrees going into action that further disrupt our daily life. In times like these, my records mean more to me than almost anything else. They're a sonic refuge, a place to [...]
Happy Cal Tjader Day! Naturally, for Cal's birthday I had to come out of hibernation and do something for the great Californian jazz musician. Lately, I've been spinning a Tjader record that I grabbed during my last trip to California, fittingly enough. It's got groovy music and cover art to match. Here comes Cal, and [...]
Say what you want about social media and its terrible effect on culture, but today it proved its worth. Scrolling through Twitter this morning, I was informed through a tweet that it was Cal Tjader's birthday. Born 93 years ago on this date, July 16, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, Tjader's family relocated to the [...]
Whenever I travel, I like to find the local record store and see what's what. You never know what you'll find. On a recent trip to San Francisco, not only did I want to check out a local record store- I wanted to find records by San Francisco's native jazz sons. I succeeded, in more [...]
Taking a (momentary) break from Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, here's another college concert album, this time recorded on the Best Coast in California. Following the example of his one-time leader Dave Brubeck (told you it was momentary), Cal Tjader took his good vibes directly to the students via college appearances. Luckily, Fantasy had a [...]
Continuing the exploration of jazz clubs via records in my collection, and after checking clubs out on the eastern side of the United States, this post marks our foray into the West Coast scene. Naturally, we start in California, and if we're in California, naturally we begin in San Francisco. And if we're in San [...]
After writing a piece profiling a 10-inch record, my interest in the other 10-inchers in my collection grew. Those clunky relics of the early 1950's are actually pretty neat. Especially when they come in crazy colors, like this album! The Music Tune: "Chopsticks Mambo" Recorded: November 1951 in California Personnel: Cal Tjader- Bongos Vince Guaraldi- [...]
I've been busy. So busy that I missed Cal Tjader's birthday, a wrong that is being writed (the pun makes up for the not good grammar) now. Cal was born 16 July, 1925, which woulda made him 92 this year. So here's to Cal Tjader! The Music Tune: Mambo Inn Tune: Bernie's Tune Personnel: Cal [...]
In addition to being infatuated with Latin music, Cal Tjader was a tasty straight-ahead jazz musician and one of the more famous jazz musicians to come from the West Coast. A native of San Francisco, Cal's group was a frequent denizen of the jazz clubs in the Bay Area, and called one club in particular [...]
It's A Raggy Waltz 