Depending on what circles a music fan travels in, the Bay Area–based Pete Escovedo may be best known as the father of famed, Prince-propelled Latin-pop star Sheila E. The energized and multi-talented Sheila’s rise to fame helped turn the spotlight back on her already legendary father. Before E.’s ascendancy to pop fame, the father-daughter team recorded the albums Solo Two and Happy Together for Fantasy Records in the late ’70s.
The E. factor aside, fans of salsa, Latin jazz, and adjacent groove-fueled music have long been aware of the senior Escovedo’s importance and musical fire, a legacy that will grace the SOhO stage on Saturday, April 12, with the arrival of Escovedo and his orchestra. Pete is now 89, but he continues to feed the musical fire and tradition he’s been a part of for six decades.
Pete’s family lineage runs deep in music history and the public ear, as the older brother of country-punk turned “Americana” artist Alejandro Escovedo and brother Coke, who teamed up with Pete to lead the ’70s Latin jazz band Aztec. That band was formed just after the brothers had finished a stint playing with another Bay Area Latin-powered super-band Santana. A brief tour of Pete’s résumé becomes an encounter with glittery name-dropping, including his work with Latin jazz pioneer Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, and many others, and including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy presented to both Pete and Sheila in 2021.
His imprint as a percussionist and solo artist cuts across the decades and a syncopated discography. One fine place to start is his aptly named 2000 album E Music (listen here), a spicy Latin jazz family affair that includes his son Peter Michael Escovedo Jr. and Sheila, on drums and vocals. The featured tune is the easy-does-it and smooth percolations of “Te Vas,” having racked up nearly three million Spotify hits to date. On more sizzling rhythmic and polyrhythmic turf, the album closes with a family jam to the tune of “Escolandia.”
Escolandia is a land where good time rules — and good times, as the SOhO crowd will soon experience.
An Evening with the Pete Escovedo Orchestra takes place at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club (1221 State St.) on Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m. See bit.ly/4i1wncO.
You must be logged in to post a comment.