[Dixielandjazz] Ozzie Cadena

[Stan Brager]

If you have any Savoy recordings from the 50s, check the producer's name.
It's quite possible that the producer was Ozzie Cadena. Jazz fans seldom
note the producers of their CDs and LPs, yet they are the men and women who
originate, guide and, in many instances, assure the quality of recording
sessions. Ozzie was one of them. Ozzie was a regular caller to my radio. He
would tell me of jazz events in the local area which got little publicity
other than his phone calls. He died a few days ago on Wednesday. His
obituary in today's Los Angeles Times is below.

Stan
Stan Brager
..................
Ozzie Cadena, 83; recorded jazz greats
By Jocelyn Y. Stewart
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 12, 2008

Ozzie Cadena, a producer for the famed Savoy Records who played a key role
in recording a long list of jazz luminaries and later led an effort to
commemorate the role of Hermosa Beach in the history of West Coast jazz, has
died. He was 83.

Cadena, who suffered a stroke last year, died of pneumonia Wednesday at
Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, said his daughter, Lori Cadena.


The height of his career in recording came during the 1950s and '60s, but
Cadena later owned record stores and booked acts for several clubs in
Southern California -- including the legendary Lighthouse Cafe and the
Sangria restaurant in Hermosa Beach -- a role he continued to play until
shortly before his death.

"I think Ozzie must have lived and breathed jazz every day of his life,"
said jazz writer Don Heckman. "He obviously had an impact via his production
work for Savoy. . . . But his biggest contribution was the love and support
of jazz that impacted everyone who knew or had any contact with him." 

Born Oscar Cadena on Sept. 26, 1924, in Oklahoma City, Cadena moved with his
family to Newark, N.J., where he spent his childhood. As a kid, he shined
shoes on the street and made weekly trips to Harlem to hear music. His love
for music also led him to regularly visit African American churches. 

After graduating from high school, Cadena enlisted in the Marines and served
from 1941 to 1945 in the South Pacific. After the war, he studied bass and
piano at a music school in New York. 

In the early 1950s, Cadena was working with a jazz radio show in Newark when
the owner of Savoy hired him. Savoy Records has a storied role in jazz
history. The label was the early recording home of Charlie Parker, Miles
Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. 

The owner of Savoy was a businessman with a spotty reputation among
musicians, who thought his contracts were unfair. 

Cadena took a philosophic view: "Whether you like the cat or not, at least
he made the music available," Cadena said in a 2002 article in Newark's
Star-Ledger. 

At Savoy from 1951 to 1959, Cadena was responsible for the early recordings
of Cal Tjader, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Donald Byrd, Cannonball and Nat
Adderley, and many others, according to his resume.

He also recorded or produced Kenny Clarke, Gillespie, Davis, Fats Navarro,
John Coltrane and Charles Mingus. 

"I was able to coordinate all these great talents, hear them make marvelous
music," he said in the Star-Ledger article. 

He recorded vocalists Little Jimmy Scott, Esther Phillips and John Lee
Hooker. Cadena also played a key role in the careers of artists working in
other genres. In the world of gospel, he recorded Clara Ward, James
Cleveland and a group that included Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney
Houston.

After leaving Savoy, Cadena worked for other labels, including Prestige,
Blue Note, and Fantasy Records. In 1974 he and his family relocated to
Hermosa Beach, which he began visiting in the late 1940s.

"It was such a perfect place," he said in a 2005 issue of South Bay People
magazine. "I could have the beach and the sunshine by day and jazz during
the night."

In Southern California he promoted jazz and booked talent at such clubs as
the Hyatt on Sunset. Since the '70s he had promoted jazz and become involved
with the Lighthouse, a club that is renowned for its role in the birth of
West Coast jazz. In 2000 he began organizing free concerts on the plaza in
Hermosa Beach every Wednesday. He also led the effort to place plaques on
the city's Pier Avenue Plaza honoring the Lighthouse and the musicians who
played there. 

In addition to his daughter, Cadena is survived by his wife, Gloria, of
Redondo Beach; two sons, Pru of Madison, N.J., and Dez of Newark, who is a
member of the punk band the Misfits; two grandsons, Kyle and Bret Cadena of
Madison, N.J.; and two sisters, Victoria Shear and Beatrice Festagallo of
Union, N.J. A daughter, Janus Cadena, died in 1959.

Services are private. A public tribute is to be announced at a later date.

jocelyn.stewart at latimes.com