Pete just one of many musical Escovedos

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 26, 2007 10:47 AM PST ∞

He's the third oldest of 12 siblings, but as the oldest Escovedo who chose music as his professional calling, Pete Escovedo is the public face of his extended clan, the patriarch if you will.

He's 72, although as his father, Pedro, lived to 96, he's in no rush to exit the stage. He's still leading a cooking Latin big band (playing Saturday and Sunday at Anthology in San Diego), one he's led under various names since the early 1970s, when he and his brother, Coke, left Carlos Santana's band to strike out on their own and form Azteca.

And if Coke is gone, the band is still a family affair, with sons Juan and Peter Michael regular members, and daughter Sheila sitting in as her schedule allows. Because, yeah, that's Sheila as in Sheila E., Latin pop chanteuse.

To her dad, though, she's still primarily a drummer. His drummer.

"With her pop stuff, she's mostly out front and plays timbales and sings," he said of his daughter (who can't make the Anthology shows) in a recent telephone interview. "She really plays great drums; I love her drumming."

What he also loves about Sheila is what he loves most about his family's music: "She listens to everything ---- she listens to jazz and gospel and pop and R&B, so she has a real wide range that she actually can perform. If anybody could call her up, she could do it."

In fact, Pete said that Sheila may be the only Escovedo who could possibly play with all the other Escovedos.

In addition to the Latin big band of Pete and Coke, and the R&B of Sheila, there's Alejandro, who's a singer-songwriter (although he also co-founded the roots punk outfit Rank and File in the late '70s), and Javier, who co-led the Americana band True Believers with Alejandro. Phil played bass with Pete and Coke in a band they founded pre-Santana. Youngest brother Mario (of San Diego) led the punk-rock band the Dragons, among others through the years. And, of course, Pete's sons and one of his daughters are now in his band.

"There's so many of us, and most of us are in the music business. It's really been cool, and my dad was so proud of us that we got into music and we all did so well. It's not the easiest profession to be in, or the best way to make a living or raise a family."

It was their father who led the way into the music business, Escovedo said.

"He was a singer and he just really loved music. He used to hang out with a lot of musicians and would invite them over to the house and they would jam and play until the wee hours of the morning. All of us kids would just hang out and listen to the music. That's what put the seed in the ground for all of us."

Not only did their father first spark his children's musical interest, but his own wide-ranging taste in music must have served as an example. Born in Saltillo, Mexico, Pete said their dad "grew up listening to mariachi music and the typical Mexican music, but he really liked the big-band stuff in the '40s. He used to go out and hang out in the ballrooms when we lived in Oakland. And he'd take all of us along, because in those days kids could go to the ballrooms."

And if his father is gone, his musical spirit lives on, Pete said.

"My grandson Dominic, he composes all his own songs, writes his own songs, he sings, he plays piano," the proud grandfather said. "He's great in the studio. He could go right into the studio and do everything that needs to be done ---- and he's only 16. One of my great-granddaughters, she's about 8 or 9 now, and she's a little ham already. She wants to sing and perform and wants to be an actress.

"The more the other kids see us, because we're all playing, they want to do the same.

"The Escovedo name will just keep rolling along."

Pete Escovedo Orchestra

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Anthology, 1337 India St., San Diego

Tickets: $10-$30

Info: (619) 595-0300

Web: peteescovedo.com

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