Ray Obiedo Group featuring Paul VW and David Mathews at Berkeley Art House Friday August 12
Ray Obiedo & the Urban Latin Jazz Project at San Jose Jazz Festival Sunday August 14 at 4pm - Latin Jazz Stage
For years Ray Obiedo has been at the forefront of musicians and composers that have combined Jazz, Funk and Brasilian styles into a fresh and dynamic new musical brew. Bringing together Contemporary Jazz and Caribbean elements and fusing them with his infectious brand of West Coast Funk, Ray creates music that is both exciting to dance to and to listen to. His two main projects are
Mistura Fina and
The Urban Latin Jazz Project!
About Ray Obiedo:
Contemporary jazz composer and guitarist Obiedo had an eclectic musical background during his youth, spent in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Here the sounds of Miles Davis, Henry Mancini, Antonio Carlos Jobim and the imported soul and pop of Motown Records influenced his early musical persona. Probably the greatest influence on his embryonic career, however, was the James Brown revue, whose funky, percussive guitar sound was the platform on which Obiedo built his technique. He joined organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith on a U S tour in 1974, then ECM Records trombonist Julian Priester on his first European outing in 1977. Ray also started his long association with the great Pete Escovedo which continues today. His own fusion band, Kick, included a young Sheila E. on drums and Sonny Rollins associate Mark Soskin on keyboards. In the mid 80s his reputation grew as one of California's finest exponents of jazz, pop and fusion. His other outlet during this time was the pop-rock vehicle Rhythmus 21, wherein he worked with other prominent session musicians from the Bay Area. His own session experience is considerable, having partnered artists including Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Lou Rawls, Grover Washington Jr., Bill Summers, Brenda Russel and The Whispers.
Obiedo's solo compositions also attracted acclaim, and saw interpretations from Sheila E, Tower of Power, steel pan great Andy Narell, jazz guitarist Bruce Forman and The Pete Escovedo Orchestra. Parts of his work have appeared on film soundtracks, most notably Michael Caine's A Shock To The System and Richard Gere's Internal Affairs. Such notoriety co-existed with Obiedo's rising status as a solo artist, recording a clutch of 90s albums for Windham Hill Records while leading The Ray Obiedo Group on club dates and concerts. Obiedo made his solo debut with 1989's Perfect Crime, followed two years later by Iguana; with 1993's Sticks and Stones, he reached the Top Ten on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz charts. After 1995's African-influenced Zulaya, he resurfaced two years later with Sweet Summer Days. 1999 saw the release of The Modern World, a hybrid of R&B, pop, and Latin jazz.
Discography:
Perfect Crime (Windham Hill 1989) ***, Iguana (Windham Hill 1991) ***, Sticks & Stones (Windham Hill 1993) ***, Zulaya (Windham Hill 1995) ****, Sweet Summer Days (Windham Hill 1997) ***, The Modern World (Domo 1999) ***.
