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EPACENTER was created to nurture the next generation of visual and performing artists. So it’s fitting that the nonprofit youth arts center’s first concert series will launch with an artist whose work has brought generations together on stage and founded a Bay Area musical dynasty.
Percussionist and bandleader Pete Escovedo and his 10-piece band will kick off EPACENTER’s Sunset Concert Series with a show on May 9. The show marks a return to EPACENTER for the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, who previously headlined the center’s fundraising gala in 2024.
“A friend of ours who teaches at the center, James Henry, who teaches the kids Brazilian music, recommended us. I love playing there,” Escovedo said in an interview with this publication.
“It is really special. It’s a beautiful place. It’s a great building, and what they are doing there for the kids is amazing.”
Escovedo, who now lives in Los Angeles, has long been a well-known name in the Bay Area music community. Born in Pittsburg and raised in Oakland, he was drawn to music at an early age. He founded a Latin jazz sextet with his brother, Coke, before both of them went on to play with Carlos Santana in his band, Santana, in the early 1970s.
“It was just an amazing time for me, and I owe a lot of gratitude to Carlos for actually taking me into his band and being able to perform in different countries and for different people,” Escovedo said.
After four years with Santana, Escovedo formed his own ensemble.
“When I got back home, I started my own Latin jazz orchestra, and my family — Sheila, E., Juan and Peter Michael — were all in the band. So it was fun playing with them — I still play with them every once in a while, with Sheila, but mostly with my sons, Juan and Peter Michael. They’re always in the band.”
The master percussionist, who helped pioneer a fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythm, salsa and contemporary jazz, is self-taught. He credits experiences playing alongside other musicians with helping him learn about music and develop his sound.
“I never had a lesson. Just working with other people — the guys that I admired, I played with, you know, all these Cuban drummers, great percussion players from Puerto Rico and Cuba. I was so blessed with the opportunity. Every time I worked with them, I learned something. So that was my school, just being around them and listening to them play, and listening to their stories and what they’ve been through,” he said.
In particular, Escovedo has cherished memories of both collaborating with and getting to know musicians he admired, including percussionist Tito Puente, sometimes called “King of the Timbales.”
“My friendship with Tito Puente has been the most rewarding thing for me, because when I was very young and first starting out, I wanted to be like him. I wanted to have the success and the kind of band like he has, and we became very close friends. Our families loved each other for many, many years, and just watching him inspired me to keep going, to keep trying,” Escovedo said.
“Then we recorded — my daughter, Sheila, and I — recorded with Billy Cobham, who is one of the great fusion drummers of all time. I admire him so much. Working with him was a new experience for us, because we started playing in different time signatures and learning a lot about music,” he recalled.
At the age of 90, Escovedo still loves performing.
“I never thought I’m gonna live to be 90. But I’ve been so blessed because I’m still able to play — not as great and as good as I used to be. I have to admit the truth that time does take its toll. So I’ve slowed down quite a bit, but I still enjoy playing with my band, and we have a great time. And there’s still a lot of music to play. So (I’m) looking forward to all of that,” he said.
Throughout his life, Escovedo has also enjoyed painting, something he took up while a student at Oakland’s McClymonds High School, thanks to a supportive art teacher, who ensured he had supplies and a space to work.
“I would ask her, ‘Am I doing this right?’ She would tell me, ‘I’m going to just leave you alone and you do whatever you want to do.’ So maybe I don’t mix the colors right or maybe I don’t use the right mediums and stuff, but it’s just what I enjoy doing. And a lot of times you think about, ‘Well, will people like this or not?’ And as long as I feel that I’ve done something that I like, then that’s the most important thing for me and if they buy it, that even escalates my ability to keep painting more,” he said.
“As long as I can still keep painting, I’ll be a happy guy. I’ve been very fortunate because I’ve had some great art shows and galleries, and have sold quite a bit to my website, and also to people that come to the galleries,” he said, adding that he is working on putting together a show in Los Angeles.
Escovedo plans to have some paintings available for sale at his EPACENTER show, along with copies of his 2017 memoir, “My Life in the Key of E.”
His most recent album, 2018’s “Back to the Bay,” features favorites such as “What You Won’t Do for Love” and “Let’s Stay Together” with a full brassy, Latin big band sound.
“Because I lived in the Bay Area for so long and recorded most of my CDs there, I like to say that we created, in a sense, a Bay Area sound, a Latin jazz Bay Area sound. That’s the music that I grew up with; the music that I performed in the Bay Area,” he said.
The EPACENTER show will include some tracks from that album, some new songs and other selections from his long career.
“I’ve assembled mostly some of the guys from the Bay Area that have played with me for many years. We’re going to have a vocalist by the name of Leah Tysse, who has been on some of my CDs. I’m going to have both my sons will be playing: Michael will be playing drums. My son, Juan, will be playing percussion, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Pete Escovedo and his band play May 9, 5 p.m., at EPACENTER, 1950 Bay Road, East Palo Alto; Tickets for East Palo Alto residents (with ID at entry) are $25/ general admission tickets $75 ($125 for VIP). epacenter.org/sunset-concerts.
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