Gratitude

...a living legend in full-form.
Earshot Jazz

Returning with his first recording as a leader in over two decades, the legendary tenor saxophonist teams up with vibist Joe Locke, drummer Joe LaBarbera, trumpeter Thomas Marriott and bassist Phil Sparks, re-establishing himself as one of the preeminent post-bop saxophonists alive. Caliman studied with Dexter Gordon, played with Gerald Wilson's Big Band, the Bobby Bryant Band, & Mongo Santamaria in the '50s, and later toured and recorded with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson and Santana throughout the US and Europe through the '70s.

Production Info:

Produced by Thomas Marriott
Recorded September 20th, 2007 at R. Lang Studios
Mixed October 5th, 2007 at Studio X, Seattle
Recorded and mixed by Reed Ruddy
Mastered by Mark Guenther/Seattle Disc Mastering
Arrangements / Transcriptions by David Marriott, Jr.
Performance photography by Todd Bishop
Cover design by John Bishop

Reviews of Gratitude

All Music Guide (Adam Greenberg)
For his first album as a leader in a couple of decades, Hadley Caliman returns with a bang. Though released by Seattle's Origin label, it's not strictly Northwest jazz, and though containing a couple of players from the California scenes, it's not strictly West Coast jazz. It's something different, tangible, with ties to the classics but exploratio ...

Audiophile Audition (Jeff Krow)
Welcome back Hadley... ****1/2 Hadley Caliman's hiatus as a recording leader has been for way too long -approaching three decades. He has not been in hiding - he simply left the craziness of our few jazz Meccas and settled in Seattle, where he has kept busy playing gigs in the Emerald City jazz clubs and also serving as a senior member of the Sea ...

Rifftides (Doug Ramsey)
I wrote in Jazz Matters about Caliman in a 1979 performance with Freddie Hubbard's band: As the evening progressed, Caliman's playing took on much of the intensity and coloration of John Coltrane's work, but he is a more directly rhythmic player than Coltrane was toward the end of his life and from that standpoint is reminiscent of Dexter Gordo ...

All About Jazz.com (John Barron)
Legendary west coast saxophonist Hadley Caliman made his mark by touring and recording with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson and Santana. For Gratitude, his first recording as a leader in three decades, Caliman is joined by vibist Joe Locke, bassist Phil Sparks, drummer Joe LaBarbera and trumpeter Thomas Marriott, who a ...

JazzTimes (Forrest Dylan Bryant)
It's been 31 years since his last album, but veteran West Coast saxophonist Hadley Caliman shows he's still got chops in this brisk, joyous return. Caliman's tone has a natural, humanist sound, with a soft edge and a voicelike cadence that makes even quick-tempo burners feel uniquely personal. Joe Locke's effortlessly cascading vibe lines and Joe L ...

The Davis Enterprise, June 5th, 2008 (Ric Bang)
If you've never heard of tenor sax player Hadley Caliman, you're forgiven; I lived and worked in Los Angeles for more than 35 years, and I didn't encounter him....and that's where he made his name from the 1950s through the '70s. As soon as he graduated from high school, he began to play in numerous jazz clubs located along Central Avenue. His id ...

Platter Chatter (George Fendel)
Seattle resident, Hadley Caliman actually got his start gigging on LA's Central Avenue with the likes of Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon and Gerald Wilson, among numerous others. At some point, he was influenced by the sound of John Coltrane, and it's the Coltrane thing which you can hear in the high energy opener, "Back For More," and on many other sele ...

Times Colonist, Vancouver, B.C. (Joseph Blake)
Tenor saxophone veteran Hadley Caliman has been a fixture on the Seattle jazz scene since moving to the Emerald City from California where he played with everyone from his mentor, Dexter Gordon, to high school classmate, Art Farmer, to recordings with Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Santana. Now in his 70's, Caliman is a regular at Seattle's Sec ...

Jazz Review (Larry Taylor)
It's always great when a jazz star, off the national scene for years, reappears, sounding just as good as ever. This is the case with tenor sax veteran Hadley Caliman and his new CD, Gratitude. Out of the mainstream, living in Seattle, teaching and playing local gigs, Caliman's recording shows his horn hasn't been idle all this time. He is joine ...