Sheila E.
Emmy & Grammy Nominee Sheila Escovedo picked up the drumsticks and started making music at the precocious age of three, while watching her legendary father, percussionist Pete Escovedo rehearse. Sheila delivered her first solo performance to a live audience two years later and has since established herself as one of the most talented percussionist/drummers and performers in the world. Best known to music fans as Sheila E., she became a top session and touring musician before the age of 20, performing and/or recording with George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Billy Cobham, Con Funk Shun and countless others. Later with Marvin Gaye on his final world tour, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Gloria Estefan, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, and Steve Nicks among others. In the 1980’s, Sheila’s friend Prince helped to catapult her to her own pop superstardom. Her obvious talent and hits like “The Glamorous Life” and “A Love Bizarre,” plus her pivotal work on other Prince-related projects contributed to her international stardom. Particularly proud moments include her participation in the “We Are The World” session, and a memorable performance on the Oscars with virtuoso Placido Domingo. In recent years, she has served as musical director for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce’ Knowles, and Prince. Her producing and arranging talents have been showcased on the Latin Grammy Awards, Summer Olympics, WOW Awards, ALMA’s, and the Image Awards. Including becoming television’s first female musical director for Magic Johnson’s “The Magic Hour,” Sheila’s enthusiasm for “passing it on” to a new generation of players led her to design “ClassE” Custom Series for adults, and the “Sheila E.’s Player Series,” for children, both with TOCA distributed by Kaman Music.
fDeluxe "formerly known as The Family"
A redefined, new alternative funk era has arisen out of an established band
formerly known as The Family. One Family album equaled a passionate fan
base hungry for album two. The long wait is over, Family fans meet fDeluxe.
The Family was a Prince produced Warner Bros release that received critical
acclaim, included a top 10 hit, ‘Screams Of Passion’ and introduced ‘Nothing
Compares 2 U’ which was famously covered by Sinead O’Connor. Unfortunately,
the band succumbed to a variety of pressures and, while they remained in
friendly touch with each other, the members forged careers down separate
paths. That is until mutual friend Sheila E. convinced them to reunite for a huge
charity concert in L.A.’s Forum. A year later Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The
Roots persuaded them to appear at his hot ticket post Grammy party. Call it fate
but the gigs all but dictated that the group pool their resources and focus on
what has become that highly anticipated second album. St. Paul Peterson and
Susannah Melvoin put on their writing hats, called Eric Leeds and Jellybean
Johnson into the studio, wrestled with the legal requirement of a new name and
the thrilling result is fDeluxe!
fDeluxe "formerly known as The Family" @ Twitter »
