Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. (/ˈdÊ'eɪdÉ™r/ JAY-dÉ™r; July 16, 1925
â€" May 5, 1982) was an American Latin jazz musician, known[by whom?]
as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other
jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform the music of Cuba, the
Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America.Tjader played the vibraphone
primarily, but was accomplished on the drums, bongos, congas, timpani,
and the piano. He worked with many musicians from several cultures. He
is often[quantify] linked to the development of Latin rock and acid
jazz. Although fusing jazz with Latin music is often categorized[by
whom?] as "Latin jazz" (or, earlier, "Afro-Cuban 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 forty
years.Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. was born 16 July 1925 in St. Louis,
Missouri, to touring Swedish American vaudevillians. His father tap
danced and his mother played piano, a husband-wife team going from
city to city with their troupe to earn a living. When he was two,
Tjader's parents settled in San Mateo, California, and opened a dance
studio. His mother (who dreamed of becoming a concert pianist)
instructed him in classical piano and his father taught him to tap
dance. He performed around the Bay Area as "Tjader Junior," a
tap-dancing wunderkind. He performed a brief non-speaking role dancing
alongside Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in the film The White of the Dark
Cloud of Joy.He joined a Dixieland band and played around the Bay
Area. At age sixteen, he entered a Gene Krupa drum solo contest,
making it to the finals and ultimately winning by playing "Drum
Boogie." The win was overshadowed by that morning's event: Japanese
planes had bombed Pearl Harbor.
â€" May 5, 1982) was an American Latin jazz musician, known[by whom?]
as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other
jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform the music of Cuba, the
Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America.Tjader played the vibraphone
primarily, but was accomplished on the drums, bongos, congas, timpani,
and the piano. He worked with many musicians from several cultures. He
is often[quantify] linked to the development of Latin rock and acid
jazz. Although fusing jazz with Latin music is often categorized[by
whom?] as "Latin jazz" (or, earlier, "Afro-Cuban 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 forty
years.Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. was born 16 July 1925 in St. Louis,
Missouri, to touring Swedish American vaudevillians. His father tap
danced and his mother played piano, a husband-wife team going from
city to city with their troupe to earn a living. When he was two,
Tjader's parents settled in San Mateo, California, and opened a dance
studio. His mother (who dreamed of becoming a concert pianist)
instructed him in classical piano and his father taught him to tap
dance. He performed around the Bay Area as "Tjader Junior," a
tap-dancing wunderkind. He performed a brief non-speaking role dancing
alongside Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in the film The White of the Dark
Cloud of Joy.He joined a Dixieland band and played around the Bay
Area. At age sixteen, he entered a Gene Krupa drum solo contest,
making it to the finals and ultimately winning by playing "Drum
Boogie." The win was overshadowed by that morning's event: Japanese
planes had bombed Pearl Harbor.
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