Tjader's Main Guitar Man: Bob Redfield

Early in January, his wife of 22 years, Shirley, phoned me and said Bobby had died of liver cancer on December 20, 2014 at the age of 77. Redfield preferred that his friends call him Bobby but didn't mind when I shortened it. Shirley and I talked for about fifteen-twenty minutes; she was in a mood to reminisce. I told her that in the course of researching my Tjader biography, Bob and I became fairly well acquainted. Since Bob lived in southern California (Laguna Hills) and neither of us traveled to meet in person, our periodic conversations were on the phone, beginning in September 2006.

Shirley confided that her marriage was a happy one. Bob was close to his grown children and had an equally remarkable rapport with his grandchildren. As she continued to carry out the mundane tasks of daily life, little things around the house reminded her of Bob, such as his address book, toothbrush and where he liked to sit. He enjoyed golf and spending time at the beach, especially following his retirement. In both his musical and personal life, his integrity was ever present. Tenderness and humor was balanced with toughness; he did not tolerate obnoxious behavior.

In March 2009, Redfield let me know that he had been through chemotherapy for colon cancer and that the disease was in remission. He described what a toll the treatment took on his body but maintained a positive attitude about his future. Unfortunately, several years later, the cancer reemerged in his liver. Still and all, his outlook, unlike many in his position, was hopeful.

Redfield's initial association with Cal Tjader began when he sat in with the vibist's quintet for three days (October 31-November 2, 1972) at the Dry Dock, a club in Newport Beach, CA. The guitarist was quickly upgraded to featured guest status during Tjader's subsequent southern California tours. For the better part of 1973, he joined the combo, most often at former bassist Howard Rumsey's Concerts by the Sea in Redondo Beach, CA. But it was not until mid-1976 that Redfield became a steady member of the fold. Over the next year and a half, he was on stage for most of Tjader's gigs, including the Concord and Monterey Jazz Festivals and a brief tour of Japan.

The fact that the guitar had rarely been used in Latin jazz bands up through the 1970s did not faze Cal Tjader; he had a history of breaking new ground. Bob Redfield (Robert Peter Leyva was his birth name) was proud of being the only guitarist to be showcased regularly in a Tjader band. Having learned from West Coast jazz greats such as Frank Rosolino and played for the Righteous Brothers early in his career, Redfield's sound was a mixture of rock and jazz-blues. In this quote from my biography, the guitarist described the influence Tjader, his roommate on the road, had on his life: "I feel very honored to have played with Cal. It's the highlight of my life. Cal was a mentor to me.... I didn't know anything about [Cuban] music when I started playing with Cal; I could play bossa novas, but I really didn't understand mambos.... Cal and Poncho [Sanchez] taught me how.... Cal and I became real good friends. Even after I left the band, we continued to [stay in touch]."

Addendum: A day or two after Shirley contacted me, I received a phone call from Antonie Boessenkool, a reporter for the Orange County Register. She was writing an obituary on Redfield and had been referred to me by Shirley. The interview lasted roughly fifteen minutes and the resulting final goodbye can be accessed on this link: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jazz-647567-redfield-guitar.html

The tribute turned out well, but, in one instance, she misquoted me:

"[Redfield] was the only regular guitar player in any of Cal's Latin jazz bands. He was very proud of that," Reid said. "He really brought the guitar into that sound, and it wasn't really something you would hear in most Latin jazz bands. He was unique, different. He innovated in a lot of ways." 

The first two sentences are accurate, of course. However, the "He" I referenced at the start of the third sentence was Cal Tjader. I had made that clear to her. Later, my request for a correction went unanswered.

I will end with an editorial on the Boessenkool article's quotes from Poncho Sanchez, Tjader's conguero or conga player during Redfield's tenure in the band. First, when I spoke to Sanchez about Redfield, he was decidedly underwhelmed by his former bandmate's guitar playing. In fact, he even went so far as to say, erroneously, that Redfield had not been a true member of the group, that Tjader had only let him sit in. Second, the idea that Redfield loved Cuban jazz because it was "in his blood" is ridiculous. Leyva being a Spanish surname does not necessarily signify a connection to said music. For example, Sanchez is an American who first heard Cuban jazz on the records that his brother collected. The music––Mexican folklorico from two separate regions––that his parents played at home was very different. Ultimately, whatever culture Redfield was exposed to by his father, it had nothing to do with the Cuban musical experience. As the late guitarist noted in a quote I highlighted earlier in this post, he initially learned the concepts of Cuban jazz while in Tjader's ensemble.

  
Bob Redfield can be heard on the following Cal Tjader records:

Puttin' it Together (CD is not available as of this writing)

Guarabe (CD: Here and There)

Here (CD: Same as above)

Tokyo Debut (Art Pepper's LP and subsequent CD features the Cal Tjader Sextet)

Cuban Fantasy (Posthumously issued CD)