Caldera (band)

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Caldera
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Jazz fusion
Years active	1976 - 1979
Label(s)	Capitol Records
Former members
Eduardo del Barrio Jorge Strunz Steve Tavaglione Carlos Vega Mike "Baiano" Azevedo

Caldera was a Latin band that combined jazz, funk and rock with a wide variety of Latin music. 1970s fusion explorers like Return to Forever and Weather Report influenced Caldera, but its members were also influenced by everything from Earth, Wind & Fire's soul/funk to Afro-Cuban salsa, Brazilian samba and Andean/Peruvian music.

[edit] Biography

Members of Caldera, which was led by keyboardist Eduardo del Barrio and guitarist Jorge Strunz, came from all over Latin America as well as parts of the United States. While drummer 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 its self-titled debut album, which was followed by Sky Islands in 1977, Time and Chance in 1978, and Dreamer in 1979. The four albums (none of which have been reissued on CD) did not sell, and the band called it quits in 1979. However, most of Caldera's members kept busy long after its breakup. Strunz went on to form the guitar duo Strunz & Farah with Iranian/Persian guitarist Ardeshir Farah, while the del Barrio worked with artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Stan Getz and Dianne Reeves throughout the 1980s and 1990s.^[1]