Cancer claims jazz man Caliman

(Editor's Note: At The Eagle's invitation, Roger Caliman submitted this article in place of an obituary about his father, jazz saxophone player Hadley Caliman.)

Former Cathlamet resident and Jazz Legend Hadley Caliman died September 8 after a two-year battle with liver cancer; he was 78. He was preceded in death by his daughter Harmony Caliman and is survived by his wife Linda Caliman, former wife Jan Caliman, children Lia Caliman and Roger Caliman, nephew Pride Cannaday, and father-in-law Roger Davis. He had four grand children, one great grand child, and several nieces and nephews.

 Caliman was born in Idabel, Okla., in 1932 to Lea Ella and Hadley Caliman, Sr. Shortly after he was born, the marriage was annulled and his father moved to Los Angeles. When Caliman was eight years old, his father arrived one day to take him back to L.A.

 Living in L.A. offered a new cultural experience for the young boy, and part of this culture was music. He began listening to his father’s jazz records and soon developed his love of the saxophone.

Unable to take private lessons, Caliman studied the art form by immersing himself in it. He lived in the same neighborhood as saxophonist Dexter Gordon and became his protégé, earning his nickname “Lil’ Dex”.

Caliman also began to learn about drugs. In those days, it seemed like you had to do drugs to play jazz, he has told listeners over the years. He wanted to do whatever he had to do to sound like the guys he respected.

He began his musical career as a teenager. After dropping out of high school, he went on the road with various bands led by Will Roland and then Roy Porter. He toured extensively with these bands, heading down Route 66 from L.A. to whatever small town would have them.

Caliman let drugs get the best of him. The addiction led him away from the music and landed him in and out of jail and federal prison. After many years in this cycle, through mandated group counseling, a rehabilitation center and his love and passion for music, Caliman was able to overcome his demons.

In the 1970’s, Caliman began to make another mark on the jazz world. Now in San Francisco, he greatly contributed to the avant-garde and jazz/rock fusion scenes. It was during this period when he began recording extensively. Over the course of the next five years, he appeared on more than 20 albums. He played saxophone and flute on Carlos Santana’s album Caravanserai (1972). In the following years, he recorded with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Henderson, Elvin Jones, Louis Gasca, Julian Priester, Joe Henderson, Hampton Hawes, and Neil Schon. He also released four albums under his own name.

It was in San Francisco where Caliman he met his wife Jan (Davis) Caliman. He was touring with Earl “Fatha” Hines when he found out that Jan was pregnant. They decided to move to Cathlamet to live with Jan’s parents, Roger and Carol Davis. The move was only supposed to be temporary, but Caliman fell in love with Cathlamet and living in the country. He also fell in love with the people. He had faced racial tensions his entire life, but in Cathlamet no one seemed to care. Caliman lived in Cathlamet for almost 20 years and raised two of his own children, as well as Jan’s nephew, Pride.

There weren’t as many opportunities to make a living with music in a small town, so he supplemented his income with whatever odd jobs he could find in the area.

In 1984, he was offered a position on the faculty at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where he taught for over 20 years. When he retired, a scholarship was dedicated in his name.

He began performing regularly in Seattle and Portland often being featured in large music festivals such as the Mount Hood Jazz Festival. He did not limit his performance to the big city. He became a regular treat at the Bald Eagle Day festival, played in local restaurants such as Jeanie’s and Birnie’s Retreat, as well as being a band member in the Friends of Skamokawa Review.

In 2001, Caliman re-married. He moved around the Olympic Peninsula for the next several years, finally landing on Mercer Island. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2008, but by then, the disease was past the point of treatment.

He didn’t let cancer stop him. He had just released his first album after three decades entitled Gratitude (’07), which was followed by Straight Ahead (‘08), and Reunion with Pete Christlieb. Reunion and Gratitude albums both made the Jazzweek national airplay charts, with Gratitude soaring to number 2 at one point.

He continued to perform all the way to the end, playing in Seattle as well as a couple of tours in the Western United States. He felt blessed that he had lived such a fulfilling life and that he was able to keep playing music and always held an optimistic view on his situation, never feeling sorry for himself.

Caliman was a major contributor to the jazz world with a career that spanned four decades and touched many lives. He was a wise and carefree man who was a master at what he did, while at the same time remaining unexpectedly humble and kind. He will be greatly missed.

There will be a memorial this Saturday, 11 a.m., at Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle.