The following passage from Cal Tjader: The Life and Recordings of the Man Who Revolutionized Latin Jazz both illustrates Herb Wong’s overall academic credentials and just how much he devoted his life to jazz:
Dr. Herb Wong is a highly esteemed jazz educator, discographer, writer, critic, business executive (past president and chief producer for Palo Alto Jazz Records and Blackhawk Records) and former disc jockey for the now defunct radio station KJAZ. In addition, he has produced, adjudicated and hosted many jazz events across the United States. Outside of his work on behalf of jazz, Wong has taught at Western Washington University and the University of California at Berkeley and has written science and ecology books.
My first encounter with Herb Wong was at his home in Menlo Park, California on May 18, 2005. Herb was relaxed and cordial during our interview, revealing his long personal and professional connection with Cal Tjader. He first met Tjader at Oakland’s Burma Lounge circa 1949, and by the early 1960s, had established a friendship that would deepen with the passing years. As he informed and entertained me with Tjader stories and other jazz anecdotes from his past, I was taken with how much enthusiasm he had for my project. Herb mentioned that another witer, several years earlier, had begun a musical analysis of all Tjader’s albums. He was dismayed that the proposed book never came to fruition.
This in person meeting was followed by two more telephone interviews in June, but that was not the end of our association. From that point on until I turned in the manuscript to McFarland in December 2012, we called each other periodically. We would talk about the book he wanted to write on brothers in jazz, such as bassist Percy Heath and his tenor sax playing brother Jimmy. In fact, at Menlo Park, he had asked me for suggestions and was pleased with my answer: guitarist Eddie Duran and his pianist sibling Manny, who died of a lung ailment in the summer of 2005. Unfortunately, Herb's great idea didn’t make it into print.
Three or four years down the line, Herb Wong wanted to collect his best articles and liner notes into one volume and asked me if I thought McFarland would be interested. I encouraged him to contact my editor, David Alff, who, in turn, demonstrated his confidence by offering a contract. Herb and I subsequently discussed how he could put it all together. He was primarily concerned with how to organize the myriad pieces in his possession, whether to designate a different category for each type of writing, and within that framework, whether do it chronologically or thematically. I was honored that he asked for my advice. Glaucoma, however, progressively took away most of his eyesight. I twice offerred to type it up for a realtively small fee, but, to my surprise, he was low on cash.
All in all, Herb was consistently supportive and very understanding about not only how rewarding writing a biography can be but also that it requires years of painstaking attention to detail. In the fall of 2013, he left a heartwarming message on my answering machine concerning the Cal Tjader biography. I called him back and he was very efffusive in his praise. Specifically, that he was up all night reading it and was impressed with how I wove all the material together, not just the text but the photos and accopanying captions as well. Next, he said that I had captured who Tjader was; this was particularly important for those who were close to Cal. I responded by telling him how much his stamp of approval meant to me. Sadly, that was our last conversation. I had thought about checking in with him early this year, but put it off. He died on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014, at the age of 88. I sent his wife, Marilyn, a note of condolence and she thoughtfully acknowledged me with a personal "Thank You" card. Finally, a smile came to my face when I found out that Herb Wong's friend, Paul Fingerote, is completing work on the aforementioned compilation book. According to David Alff, McFarland has tentatively scheduled it for publication in 2015. I will kept readers abreast of any new developments.
To wind up this remembrance, here are two excerpts from the Cal Tjader book; the first two paragraphs are from chapter 3, p. 134-135:
“Daddy Wong Legs," [Soul Bird's] uplifting finale, has a humorous story attached to it. “We were drinking at El Matador around 1964 or ‘65,” said Herb Wong. “I was having a King Alphonse, my sissy drink. Cal accidentally hit my left elbow and spilled the drink all over my nice camel-haired sport jacket. He said, ‘Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Herb.’ I said, ‘No problem, I’ll take it to the dry cleaners.’ Cal [calls] the next day and says he is going to write a song for me. I told him it wasn’t necessary but he really wanted to. Cal kept calling me with different song titles, such as 'Wong Way Street' and 'If It’s Not Wong, It’s Right.' I told him to forget it. [Then] he calls me at 2 A.M. I’m groggy and didn’t remember the next day that Cal said he would be recording ‘Daddy Wong Legs’ for me. I apparently had agreed to it.
“Eventually, Cal brought the test pressing over to KJAZ and I had no idea what it was. I never knew what he would bring.... He played different parts of Soul Bird but the first thing he did was play ‘Daddy Wong Legs.’ He was so fidgety; he couldn’t wait to do that to me. He thought that I didn’t know the title because I was so groggy at the time he first mentioned it. Also, I made no anticipatory comment about it. Cal just had a ball; he laughed and laughed. Then he got up and danced around while saying, ‘I gotcha! I gotcha!’ [chuckles]. I said, ‘You sure did.’”
The last two paragraphs are from chapter 5, p. 238:
Tjader and Herb Wong bonded on their love for jazz. Wong would usually catch Tjader at El Matador three or four nights in a row. On each occasion, after the final set, they would make the rounds of all the jazz clubs on Broadway. Wong always prepared a list of the headliners and their schedules. This way he and Tjader could go back and forth across the street and hear one set at Basin Street West, the Jazz Workshop and so on. “All of the managers and [doormen] would say, ‘You guys are here again?’ ‘We’re here again’” [laughs].
The many nights he spent at El Matador revealed to Wong what a clever bandleader Tjader was. “He paced his sets very intelligently, with taste and understanding of how an audience may move from one context to another and still have logic in the set of music that he was presenting.” Tjader was able to express his musical ideas to a broader audience because he could please both straight and Latin jazz purists and ballad lovers during the same performance. “That’s not an ad hoc skill,” continued Wong. “[It’s] something that matures.... The feeling that he would maximize his contribution to the music while ... also contributing to the audience’s pleasure, and hopefully, growth.”
Herb Wong wrote liner notes for the following Cal Tjader LPs:
Warm Wave (Verve V6-8585).
Soul Burst (Verve 557 446-2).
The Prophet (Verve POC J-2779).
Last Night When We Were Young: Cal Tjader with Strings (Fantasy F-9482).
Breathe Easy (Galaxy GXY-5107).
The Shining Sea (Concord Jazz CJ-159).
