Happy Birthday Oakland

Happy Birthday Oakland

It is Mother’s Day and I have just learned that the caregiver I am relieving, in my role as a hospice volunteer, personally knows Pete Escovedo. One of the children of her best friend is married to one of Pete’s children. She calls Pete a ‘sweet’ person. Who knew that a Saturday excursion would produce this kind of information?

On May 4 I was in Oakland’s City Center, at Frank Ogawa Plaza, with Elena, waiting for Pete Escovedo to headline the kickoff of the 150^th birthday of Oakland, California. A cloudy morning had given way to sunshine and blue skies, a California staple (at least in this micro-climate). A quick preliminary stroll through the plaza brought us to a few food booths, a mural to be painted on the spot by children, various crafts and arts booths, the birthday cake booth, and others. Restaurants that might otherwise remain closed were open for the day, taking advantage of the opportunity to sell food to the hungry throngs.

Elena and I stopped at Tully’s Coffee for refreshment and spent some time talking about opportunities to come, vacations we would like to take, and other related information. Then we heard the announcer speak about Pete Escovedo and immediately made way for the center stage.

The Oakland City Hall is situated at the top of Frank Ogawa Plaza. In front of City Hall is a very small drive and next to it is a concrete, hemispheric stage with steps leading down to a small amphitheater, also hemispheric, for people to gather on. Immediately next to this are steps leading up to the rest of the plaza, a green lawn.

Elena and I find a place to sit to the left of the stage, which is covered by a tent structure to keep the sun off the performers. Pete and his Orchestra are already in place and ready to go. They are all dressed in suits and ties, which amazed me, accustomed as I am to Louie Beltran’s more casual attire. After playing a few songs, he introduces his Orchestra, which is apparently a hand picked conglomerate of talent, including a bass player from Amsterdam, NL, a flautist/saxophone player from the Philippines, and an arranger from Sacramento. Pete is playing timbales, and his son Juan is playing the congas. It is an eclectic group, but they play as one and it is impressive to watch them in action.

The crowd quickly grows, and introductions include family members. Pete’s wife Juanita is hard at work setting up and running the sales table of CDs and T-shirts. Elena acquires a double CD from the 70s performed by Sheila E and her father. It is vintage stuff, and probably not available any other way. When Juanita is not manning the table, she is wandering through the crowd, recognizing friends and offering visual cues to Pete, who comments on the many friends and family members in attendance.

Pete Escovedo is an Oakland institution, mentioning Fruitvale and 14^th Street as old stomping grounds. He comments that he wishes to open a club in Oakland, yet he already has one, Mr. E’s, in Berkeley. I wonder if he is serious about a new club. He is definitely serious about his music, and the energy he puts into his performance is awesome. This is a man also accustomed to the intrusions of the paparazzi. There are cameramen from the local TV stations, as well as newspapers and the typical fans. He is unfazed by the attention, playing as if the cameras were just a normal extension of the environment. Elena, more knowledgeable than I about such matters, takes note of the cameramen and Pete’s response, accurately predicting what he will do as each cameraman attempts to capitalize on his presence.

The music is purely Latin jazz, and I am totally inept in describing it, other than to mention this for Louie Beltran fans: pull out your Louie CD and turn on track 3, Señorita Mia. Pete uses the opening bars from that track in two of his songs and neither are ones I recall hearing Louie play. I am left to ponder, who is imitating whom? People are dancing in the amphitheater, much to Pete’s delight. Small children, older adults, a guy in a wheelchair, all are moving and grooving to the music. During the last song he plays, the brass ensemble, all the way to the end, matches him and Juan’s movements and actions. It is wonderful and exemplifies the artistry of this masterful performer. He is in control of his environment and his music.

Pete also invites three locals to come up and perform some rap songs, one young African American boy, an African American girl, and a twenty something African American male. All three do well, to accolades from the crowd. And then the real star finally arrives.

Sheila E is Pete’s daughter and a star in her own right. She appears and her father, clearly proud, announces that she is there to show him up, even though he taught her all she knows. Sheila returns the compliment to her father and addresses the crowd, crying out “Oakland is in the house!” She gets a roar of affirmation in response. The amphitheater is full of people, and she refers to graduates of Oakland High (her alma mater) and other local schools. She gets thunderous responses in every case. All of the paparazzi, whether professional, amateur, or purely tourist, makes it way to the stage, and cameras are snapping and whirring as Sheila takes over the timbales. She is absolutely amazing, all of her energy just pouring through the drumsticks.

Then, she grabs the mike and is in the middle of the crowd that has made its way to the stage. Singing and dancing, she has got the crowd eating out of her hands. It is pure magic to watch. She turns to the Orchestra and, just like her dad; she winds up the brass moving the beat to a faster, more intense level. The entire crowd, on her command, hollers “Pete Escovedo!” She returns to the timbales for a final performance, and when it ends we are breathless.

In the space of about two hours we have been treated to a live performance that cost us nothing but time. It was well worth the investment.