Although his reputation in jazz was built upon his talent as a vibe player, Cal Tjader was also an accomplished percussionist and played the bongos, congas, timpani and drums. He was also a skilled pianist having been taught classical piano from a very early age.

Tjader was born in St. Louis, the son of two Swedish vaudeville performers and his parents relocated to the west coast when he was two. After growing up in the Bay Area, Tjader enlisted in the military as a medic before going back to college training to be a teacher. It was there he met another former GI, the pianist Dave Brubeck, and along with six other keen young jazz players they formed the Dave Brubeck Octet with Tjader on drums. When Brubeck eventually formed his successful trio he retained Tjader on drums.

During his time with Brubeck, Tjader developed his vibraphone playing and this eventually became his primary instrument. In the 1950s he rode the crest of the mambo wave which had swept across the music scene in the USA and he continued to play Latin style music for the rest of his career. He recorded numerous jazz and Latin albums, his most successful work being the Grammy Award winning 'La Onda Va Bien', released in 1979. He died from a heart attack in 1982 whilst on tour with his band in Manila, aged 56.

Cal Tjader

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