Hadley Caliman -

Hadley Caliman (Jan. 12, 1932 — Sept. 8, 2010) was an American post-bop tenor saxophonist whose career began in the late 1940s with drummer Roy Porter. He worked through the 1960s with Gerald Wilson, Don Ellis, and Mongo Santamaria. As a bandleader, he made the 1971/72 albums Hadley Caliman and Iapetus on Mainstream Records, followed by the 1976/77 Catalyst titles Projecting and Celebration.

Background

Hadley Harold Caliman was born Jan. 12, 1932, in Idabel, Oklahoma; the son of Lee Ella Paskell and railroad cook Hadley Caliman Sr., whose interracial marriage was annulled after opposition from his paternal family. Caliman remained with his mother on an Oklahoma farm until 1940, when his moved with his father to Los Angeles.

Inspired by his father’s love for big bands, Caliman took up tenor saxophone at age fourteen. At Jefferson High School, Caliman played tenor saxophone in the school big band, which rehearsed arrangements by Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Trumpeter Art Farmer also attended Jefferson and moved through the same Central Avenue jazz circle.

While still in his teens, Caliman entered professional work with drummer Roy Porter’s Los Angeles big band. Porter recorded him for Rex Records in spring 1949 on “Frantic Dream” and “Everything’s Cool,” with Farmer and Eric Dolphy among the personnel.

Caliman developed a heroin addiction in the early 1950s and served prison terms at Chino and San Quentin after narcotics convictions. At Chino, he joined prison jam sessions and studied dictation, theory, and classical music with an instructor from Pomona College.

Caliman returned to Los Angeles club and session work after his release. Pianist Frank Strazzeri hired him for a January 1963 Pacific Jazz session that remained unreleased at the time. Trumpeter Bobby Bryant later hired Caliman for the house band at Marty’s on 58th and Broadway, where the steady job also met his parole requirements. Tenor saxophonist Herman Riley shared the front line, while Pete Christlieb substituted when Riley toured with Pearl Bailey and Louie Bellson.

Caliman joined Gerald Wilson after tenor saxophonist Walter Benton left the orchestra. He played on Live and Swinging!, recorded in March/April 1967 at Marty’s on the Hill, then returned for the 1968/69 albums California Soul and Eternal Equinox. Don Ellis added Caliman to the reed section for the 1969 Columbia album The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground. Mongo Santamaria used Caliman on Stone Soul the same year, after which trumpeter Luis Gasca brought the saxophonist into Santamaria’s touring band for engagements in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Producer Bob Shad signed Caliman to Mainstream Records in 1971 for his first album as a leader.

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