Biography

One of the most innovative and chance-taking jazz fusion outfits of the late '70s, Caldera combined jazz, funk, and rock with a wide variety of Latin music. Caldera were influenced by 1970s fusion explorers like Return to Forever and Weather Report, but the bandmembers were also influenced by everything from Earth, Wind & Fire's soul-funk to Afro-Cuban salsa, Brazilian samba, and Andean/Peruvian music. Led by keyboardist Eduardo del Barrio and guitarist Jorge Strunz, Caldera featured members from all over Latin America as well as parts of the U.S. While bassist Dean Cortez and saxophonist Steve Tavaglione were U.S.-born, other members were born in Costa Rica (Strunz), Argentina (del Barrio), Cuba (drummer Carlos Vega), and Brazil (percussionist Mike "Baiano" Azevedo). In 1976, Caldera signed with Capitol and recorded their self-titled debut album, which was followed by Sky Islands in 1977, Time and Chance in 1978, and Dreamer in 1979. In an ideal world, Caldera would have had a long life, but their four Capitol LPs (only the first of which has been reissued on CD after the turn of the millennium) didn't sell -- and the band called it quits in 1979. However, most of Caldera's members kept busy long after the band's breakup. Strunz, for example, went on to form the guitar duo Strunz & Farah with Iranian/Persian guitarist Ardeshir Farah, while the 1980s and 1990s found del Barrio working with everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to Stan Getz and Dianne Reeves. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi