11/24/2023 Record Day - Forthcoming Releases - Cal Tjader "Catch the Groove"

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

In the September 1965 issue of Jazz magazine, Herb Wong queried Tjader on many topics, …. Near the end of the profile, Tjader revealed that the performance level of his band fluctuated. This was due in large part to how they felt about a given venue. He expressed affection for the defunct Blackhawk [San Francisco] and designated the Lighthouse, the Penthouse in Seattle, the Rubiot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and El Matador [San Francisco] as "warm clubs." All of the owners went out of their way to create a comfortable atmosphere for the musicians. "I really dig El Matador," he said. "The group likes to come to work there and the audience really comes to listen. Even the waiters seem to dig the whole thing. The feeling and tone of El Matador somehow puts the artist and the audience into instant rapport." 

S. Duncan Reid, Cal Tjader: The Life and Recordings of the Man Who Revolutionized Latin Jazz

“Cal Tjader made great music. He played beautifully. I have to say, for me, Cal Tjader was the world's greatest vibes player. God only made one vibes player that great to play that pretty and that beautifully. I'm not saying he was the world's greatest vibes player because he played fast. No, Cal didn't play fast. He played very simply, very plainly. He played flowing melodic lines, but complex ones, too. He was melodic. Simple and complex and with a beautiful touch on the vibes. He played like Count Basie. Basie never overplayed. Neither did Cal.

I was 24 when I joined the Cal Tjader band in 1975. We were playing at the Coconut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel. That was a big step up for me, a local musician around Los Angeles playing with local bands, weddings, American-Legion gigs, VFW halls and like that. Then to play with Cal Tjader. That was another level.

Cal was a complete gentleman, a sweetheart, a very nice man. Before our first show, he told me which songs I should know and those I should learn. But I knew a lot of them already being such a big fan of his from childhood with my brothers' and sisters' records, plus Cal had Fantasy Records send me about a dozen albums. He told me which songs we would probably play the next week. A week later I was playing with him. He knew I didn't read music, but he told me, "Just catch the groove man. I know you can do it."”

• Poncho Sanchez, conguero, bandleader

The forthcoming Record Store Day on “Black Friday” November 24, 2023 is a day to celebrate new releases, especially those involving the resurgent interest in vinyl editions with CDs of these albums generally following a few weeks later.

It seems that the Black Friday” Jazz releases often focus on what are termed today as “iconic Jazz masters,” a phrase I fear would be a source of great embarrassment for the artists in question if they were still with us.

Having had direct contact with some of the Jazz artists so designated and read or listened to interviews with many others, I think their humility and civility would have a problem with being lauded with such appellations.

I’ve been the fortunate recipient of preview copies of new Jazz recordings by some of these accomplished Jazz legends to be released on the upcoming Record Store day and I thought it might be fun to share the information on the media releases which accompanied them to make you aware of what could be the cause of a lessening balance in your bank account come November 24th!

From Ann Braithwaite/Braithwaite & Katz Communications

PRODUCER ZEV FELDMAN'S IMPRINT, JAZZ DETECTIVE, LAUNCHES NEVER BEFORE RELEASED CAL TJADER LIVE SETS RECORDED IN THE 1960s AT THE PENTHOUSE JAZZ CLUB IN SEATTLE

THIS IS THE FIRST OFFICIAL RELEASE OF PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED LIVE CAL TJADER MUSIC IN NEARLY 20 YEARS!

Transferred from the original tape reels and mastered for vinyl by Bernie Grundman, Cal Tjader: Catch The Groove - Live at the Penthouse 1963-1967 is presented as a 180-gram vinyl limited edition 3-LP SET and will also be available as a Deluxe 2-CD set and as a digital download.

LP Release Date: November 24th CD Release Date: December 1st

The deluxe package includes reflections by producer Zev Feldman and Brent Fischer (son of pianist Clare Fischer), liner notes by DJ and music journalist Greg Casseus, as well as interviews with Poncho Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Locke, Gary Burton, Carl Burnett, and a statement by Tjader's son and daughter Rob and Liz Tjader.

The extensive booklet contains previously unpublished photos by Ray Avery and Fred Seligo.

All of the performances heard on this set are previously unreleased. 

Vibraphone legend Cal Tjader is heard with a variety of quintets, backed by pianists Clare Fischer, Lonnie Hewitt and Al Zulaica, bassists Fred Schreiber, Terry Hilliard, Monk Montgomery and Stan Gilbert, drummers Johnny Rae and Carl Burnett, and percussionists Bill Fitch and Armando Peraza.

CATCH THE GROOVE

LIVE AT THE PENTHOUSE 1963-1967

Taking its name from Feldman's handle "the Jazz Detective" and reflecting his determined work unearthing hitherto unheard, award-winning treasures, the Jazz Detective label is an imprint of Deep Digs Music Group, a partnership with Spain's Elemental Music, with which Feldman has enjoyed a long professional relationship.

Feldman says, "It's been a great thrill to be on this journey bringing these spectacular recordings of Tjader's performances at the Penthouse to the world. It's been a project several years in the making. I've had the good fortune of working with Charlie Puzzo, Jr., son of Penthouse founder, Charlie Puzzo, Sr., and the original recording engineer and radio host Jim Wilke, to produce this joyful collection of music for release. It's just wonderful music, a little bittersweet because Cal Tjader is today, truly an underappreciated jazz giant. To me, it's sad that Cal Tjader's stature seems to have diminished since his death in 1982, even though in his day, he appealed to and reached an enormous audience. And a wide audience, comprising both young and old."

"This is a treasure trove from a great Pacific Northwest jazz club, which Cal and his sidemen regarded as one of their favorite venues in the country. And it is our hope that the superlative playing heard within this package will contribute to the large-scale reassessment that Cal Tjaderhas long richly deserved." GREG CASSEUS

"On behalf of my brother, Rob, and myself, Elizabeth Tjader, we offer our sincere gratitude to Zev Feldman for releasing this outstanding collection of previously unheard recordings from Cat Tjader live at the Penthouse Jazz Club in Seattle. The audio quality of these recordings is phenomenal. It's as if we're transported back to the Penthouse Jazz Club itself, seated a few feet from the stage where the synergy between the audience, our dad and the band members becomes virtually palpable." ROB and LIZ TJADER

"I felt that Cal made a unique and important contribution to vibes history. Although he was an unlikely guy to do it, he played a significant role in blending jazz and Latin music. I say unlikely because he didn't come from a Latin background. But he really brought together some of the most important musicians of that genre and became very popular in a field that most jazz people never knew about." GARY BURTON

"Cal was a wonderful person. That's why we hit it off. We were both conscientious of what we were doing. We were both artists with our own orchestras. He loved what he did, and I loved what I did. We bonded together and it was a wonderful bond." EDDIE PALMIERI

"Cal Tjader made great music. He played beautifully. I have to say, for me, Cal Tjader was the world's greatest vibes player." ARMANDO PERAZA