Cal Tjader
b. Callen R. Tjader, 16 July 1925, St Louis, Missouri, USA, d. 5 May 1982. After studying formally, Tjader played drums with various bands on the west coast before joining Dave Brubeck in 1949. In the early '50s he played with Alvino Rey and also led his own small bands. By 1953, the year he joined George Shearing, he had added vibraphone and various other percussion instruments to his roster. In 1954 he again formed a band of his own, concentrating on Latin American music and making numerous records on the Fantasy and Verve labels. He hired his sidemen with care, employing over the years distinguished musicians such as Lalo Schifren, Willie Bobo, Donald Byrd and Kenny Burrell while later musical associates included Hank Jones and Scott Hamilton. For all his undoubted skills as an instrumentalist, much of Tjader's recorded output lacks urgency and vitality, often slipping gently into well-played but undemanding background music. He died in May 1982.