Pete Escovedo's Orchestra

Something you should know about me is that Latin jazz is my absolute favorite type of music. Latin jazz has a feel unique to music itself and I can never get enough of it. The way the rhythm section grooves together with the timbales and clave- it is just killin' on the stage! Trombone solos are more my style when they're Latin with straight eights and licks that compliment the clave.On one Saturday, a man named Pete Escovedo came to Salt Lake for a concert. 

Pete Escovedo is a seventy-nine year old Latin percussionist. Since the late 1960's Pete has been a large force in Latin music, bringing him to success in many other genres like Latin jazz, salsa, rock, and Latin pop. He had originally played saxophone in high school, until he switched to the vibes later on. Pete had eventually gotten hired by a famous pianist along with his brother for a gig.Then his younger brother had started playing the bass, and the Escovedo Brothers Latin Jazz Sextet was formed. Unfortunately, for a good reason, the sextet was broken up when Pete and one of his brothers was called to play with Santana. Three years later, Pete and his brother had found another group called Azteca, and recorded two albums.

Pete Escovedo playing at the White House

Image courtesy of Pete Escovedo

Pete has performed with many other big names in jazz, such as Herbie Hancock, Woody Herman, Cal Tjader, and Tito Puente. He even led his own orchestra for a while, with his kids Juan, Peter, Michael, and Sheila. Pete has performed with Sheila when she was just a teenager, and had her record on an album with him and Billy Cobham. Sheila E. is quite famous for some of her songs like The Glamorous Life, but she couldn't have done it without her father. 

Caroleine and I both really enjoyed his concert. The first song on the set was a trombone feature and I think I fell out of my chair. After Intermission, Caleb Chapman's La Onda Caribena got to go onstage and play with the orchestra. It was really quite enjoyable. By the end of the concert, Caroleine and I were dancing through the rows and all around the theater and it was absolutely amazing. We also made new friends Debbie and Tom, who were big fans of Pete Escovedo and recently (I had nothing to do with it, I promise) the Little Big Band (Just kidding I was lying), so yay.

Later that week, my school jazz band had a concert. We played three tunes- St. Thomas, My Funny Valentine, and Four Brothers. On St. Thomas, I had a 32-bar solo, which was great, because I was the only one soloing. You know what wasn't great? I HAD THE FLU. THE FREAKING FLU. ON THE NIGHT OF THE CONCERT. My insides wanted to be on my outsides. I had to manage to play like that, but luckily it was short. It wasn't too bad on stage because I was focused on the music, but before and after.... ech.