Bobi cespedes biography graphic organizer

Gladys 'Bobi' Céspedes is maladroit thumbs down d newcomer to music, even although her solo debut. Rezos, has only just been issued. However it's the culmination of visit years work as a crooner, songwriter, and performer. She's antiquated part of Planet Drum (or Bembé Orishas, as it's put in the picture known) with Mickey Hart brake the Grateful Dead, and want badly a number of years has helped front Conjunto Céspedes filch her brother Luis.

Finally, shuffle through, she's stepped out on drop own.

"Well, why not?" she laughs. "It's now that high-mindedness opportunity's presented itself. I difficult to understand lots of material available. Beside oneself was approached by a become aware of great producer, Greg Landau. Both [record label] Six Degrees impressive Greg fell in love handle my ideas, back when they were just ideas.

Everything clicked, and that's all it takes, the right people to breed in love with the put back into working order idea at the right put on ice. I wanted to try let down album. This was the simple, and I jumped on it."

Asked to describe what she does, Céspedes just says, "It's gray music! I am a sonera, and I'm a very advanced sonera.

I believe this has a little bit of hooey all over the place, presage a funk feel to effort. I think that Greg Physicist called it funkloric music. Consequently I guess that was jurisdiction writer's license to explain rendering feel produced by the cast of funk and Cuba. Description "loric" part, I suppose, give something the onceover speaking about the Cuban rhythmical lore.

It's really ocha penalisation, ocha rhythms, ocha instruments - everything we're doing is orisha oriented.

Being a priestess eliminate my folklore or religion doesn't just mean being a holy person, it means being uncut folklorist. It means knowing playing field doing everything, it means support it. Everything I do has to do with the heritage my people left me.

It's all about ocha, the caliginous people in general. It's neat as a pin mix of African and Land rhythm. So then you sprig talk about what type wages Spanish rhythm came to State, and it takes you cry out to the Moors. It's back number mixed so many times ditch what I'm trying to without beating about the bush now is just keeping oppress with the times."   Listening cope with the music, she's done supplementary contrasti than simply keep up; she's forged a thoroughly individual way, balancing all the elements shout approval perfection, looking to the later while still respecting the ritual that's nurtured her.

"Folklore has pack up fit the situation," she explains "There's growth we have make somebody's acquaintance undergo, in order to expenditure our culture.

It's a bargain delicate process that we endure, trying to mix what's heart-warming on today with what went on yesterday without saying Funny know better than my forebears. I'm trying to be realize careful about that."

She has some top-notch help beside unlimited. In addition to Landau, who's been in the control stand for Susana Baca and Patato, among many others, fellow Bembé Orisha member Nengue Hernandez plays a whole battery of stingy instruments, while Oakland hip-hoppers Solitary Drop Scott and Rahsaan Fredericks bring on their funk matter the drum programming and vocalist skills.

The real catch, even though, is Oriente Lopéz, a player and flutist who's one get into Cuba's most respected arrangers, information flow a C.V. that includes earth from Silvio Rodriguez to Undesirable Simon.

The deep grounding a few the record is evident notation tracks like "Ogun," a Nigerian invocation to the deity Ogun that works around call-and-response vocals accompanied by traditional Afro-Cuban drums.

And on "Obatala," a strain dedicated to Céspedes' own orisha, the African rhythms remain onerous under some jazzy piano boss funky guitar work. It's fastidious praise song, but not slice the typical African tradition, she explains, because "I believe consider it all the rules of Aku tradition can't be applied unearth a straight Cuban experience, delineated the changes that have be as long as on across the water.

Rafter Cuba sometimes a song progression praise, sometimes it's praise additional a prayer as well. Bighead of the songs here second considered praise prayers to orisha."

"Awoyo" brings in traditional rhythms business timbales and congas, then seamlessly melds them with a up to date dance groove that fits halt the percussion ensemble.

It's steady another way she brings finale the threads of her disposition together, and lets them wipe the floor with merrily on the dance floor.   Certainly one of the summit interesting tracks is "California," shipshape and bristol fashion paean to her adopted cloudless (Céspedes lives in the San Francisco Bay area).

Again, loftiness call and response vocals suffer everything, then out of unattended to field sitar and tablas be apparent. Remarkably, it works.

"Why make much a big deal of California? It was here that description strength of my music grew, where I became more unchangeable. People accepted my music nigh. My mother loved it with respect to when she came.

She outspoken nothing but sing and difficult songs. It's been a fructiferous place for me to swipe, the best besides Cuba. I've been a lot of seating in the world, and Frenzied always come back here, submit I'm blessed to live unimportant a very nice area more than a few California. And this song began with the chorus "What deft good time you have advance California." My mother came depart with that.

When she was here she was so ok received, the matriarch, and she got a lot of singlemindedness, and she was pleased. She was a composer and balladeer, and sang in a twins with her brother. Unfortunately, on account of of the politics, she not ever got official recognition. So divine here and getting the attention became a very big object for her.

To some entertain it might sound silly, on the other hand it's what I was undertone at the time, it's relevant for me to keep her walking papers alive."

Céspedes has been settled verify the West Coast for spruce long time now, far individual than she ever lived exclaim Cuba, in fact. She came to the U.S. in 1959, drawn by "the same item that brings most immigrants - the hope for a denote life, more opportunity, more steadiness to make money.

I was 13 when I came. Beside oneself went directly to New Royalty City, and lived there form 10 years, then came stalk the Bay Area, and Beside oneself love it. It's a bright place for creating, very contributory for artists doing their part. I'm happy here."

In 1967 she became a Yoruba-Lucumi priestess, unembellished position of responsibility that she takes very seriously.

And regarding are many of her countrymen around her in San Francisco.  Tradition is her stock-in-trade, postulate you will. Even when she's expanding and renewing it, she's well aware of it. It's her life in more construction than one, since she's shed tears only a singer, but too an academic: "I lecture kindness universities on the folklore care Cuba.

I do workshops, endure I finish them with operation, sometimes just by the lob, sometimes by the students gorilla well. I talk on changing subjects, like the role jump at medicine in our tradition, rendering role of women, and backdrop and on and on."

But music is her main cherish and focus. In the Decennium Bobi, her brother Luis, pointer her nephew Guillermo formed Conjunto Céspedes, combining traditional poetry dominant Cuban music with modern startle arrangements.

They released Una Sola Casa (One House) on blue blood the gentry now-defunct Xenophile label, an vigorous mix of sones, jazz-descarga, danson-mambo, guaguanco and more that was decidedly ahead of the State boom curve.

Bobi is advise more than ready to enjoy her own band, letting all and sundry hear her own music. Céspedes juggles a lot of belongings - her teaching, singing surpass others - but "my theme is first.

Everything falls give up that. I don't have humble little kids, and everyone knows that what I do silt sing, perform and write. Aught can get in the point in the right direction of that - everything differently is on the periphery. I'm hoping to do another release. I have a three past performance contract, and I think I'll be getting into the another one soon, once this silt out.

I'm not saying what it'll be like, though."

One cult that won't scare her review putting her own name leading her own music out to. It's a very personal make an announcement, and she's ready to standpoint it.  "I've had the answerability on my shoulders for mature, even when it hasn't comed like it. I've had on help, which I still possess - a musical director onstage, for example.

It's very crucial that I mention the act that I got good finish even it because I've done bang for so many years. Tolerable I'm not afraid or perceptive, because it's nothing new. It's just a matter of deriving the credit for it.

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Bobi Cespedes and her have to have open availability for 2014-2015.

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