The music icon and legend releases first-ever salsa record, Bailar

Sheila E. is one of the most important people in music; a pioneer and a living legend. The Queen of Percussion’s instrumental skillset is impressive, as it includes not only drumset but also timbales and hand percussion, all of which she mastered with the utmost touch of grace. She is also a singer and a producer, as well as a role model for all musicians.

Sheila E. was most recently honored at Zildjian’s 400th anniversary concert, as her lifetime of work earned her a spot in the prestigious Zildjian Hall of Fame. Last year, accompanied by Ringo Starr, Sheila E. made history as the first female solo percussionist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sheila Cecelia Escovedo, most popularly known by her stage name, Sheila E., came from humble beginnings. She was born into a musical family in Oakland, California, and was the first child born to her French Creole mother, Juanita Gardere, and her father, Pete Escovedo, the legendary Mexican-American jazz percussionist.

The music icon grew up listening to Latin music regularly in her household as her father, Mr. Escovedo, loved Latin jazz, a love which was then passed down to his children. “When I was growing up, my dad met Tito Puente at 18 years old. And so Tito used to come to our house, when they would play San Francisco in the Bay Area, where I was born and raised in Oakland. My dad would go and see him perform. So I was used to hearing my dad play and practice every day at home, playing to artists like Mongo Santamaria, Celia Cruz, Tito, and Fania All-Stars,” comments Sheila E. to HOLA!

Sheila’s godfather was the ‘King of the Timbales’, the late, great Tito Puente. “Tito became my godfather. I used to call him grandpa, and he got mad at me and said, “Don’t ever call me grandpa.” I was like, “Okay, godfather. Okay.“ Yes, he was my godfather. He was so inspirational, especially to my dad as well, them hanging out together so young and for so many years, influenced my dad to really play percussion as well,” she candidly comments.

At the age of five, she played her first gig in front of a big audience, next to her Dad. That was only the beginning. After decades in the music industry, Sheila E. continues to have an illustrious career, having played with Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Ringo Starr, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Gloria Estefan (to name some).

Sheila E. became a household name in 1984 throughout her work with Prince, the pop icon. The also garnered Sheila’s solo success as she released ‘The Glamorous Life’, her first critically acclaimed solo album. Her album was nominated for multiple GRAMMY and American Music Award nominations and more. In the nineties, Sheila E. assembled the soul-Latin jazz-funk-gospel fusion band known as ‘E-Train’ and to this day, the ‘Queen of Percussion’ continues touring with the band.

Sheila E. is a creative force; nothing stops her, especially now that she’s embarking on a new chapter of her musical career: Her first-ever salsa album!

As the ‘Queen of the Percussion’ and direct musical descendant of the ‘King of the Timbales,’ Tito Puente, this record is particularly special for her. This project is co-produced by Grammy-award-winning composer and percussionist Tony Succar, ‘The Salsa Renaissance Man.’

The first single, ‘Bemba Colorá’, a tribute to  the ‘Queen of Salsa’, Celia Cruz , features not only Sheila E. playing percussion but also singing alongside her longtime friend and collaborator, Gloria Estefan, and Mimy Succar, Tony’s mother.

HOLA! had the pleasure of experiencing greatness in person twofold, via her record release concert in Miami and the spectacular photo-shoot in the hills of Malibu, CA. Sheila’s concert while performing alongside her friends, at the Fillmore Miami Beach in celebration of ‘Bailar’, her first ever salsa record, was a incredible and magical. This concert featured Pete Escovedo, Gloria Estefan, Mimy Succar, Tony Succar, Debi Nova, Emily Estefan and Emilio Estefan, among others. It was a night to remember!

Sheila E.’s powerful essence and personality were captured in an in-depth interview. HOLA! hopes that you celebrate Sheila E. as she is about to once again make history with her music and create an inflection point in the Salsa genre. We also hope that you enjoy listening to Sheila’s latest record, ‘Bailar’, which is out today. We love you, Sheila!

‘Bailar’ is your first salsa album? After so many years in the music industry, why now and not before?

I wanted to do it a long time ago. I grew up as a Latin jazz artist, and then when I became Sheila E., I signed as an R&B artist. But growing up, I’ve been listening to salsa my whole life, and it’s challenging music to play because it’s specific beats that you have to play in sections. I wasn’t raised to play music in that way. Latin jazz is a little more free, but salsa is all about the clave. So if you don’t know the clave, then you’re in trouble. So I waited, and I said, “One day I’ll maybe be able to do a salsa record.” I met Tony Succar. He was doing a PBS special for Michael Jackson, and I was a part of that performance, and his band was killing it. And I was like, “Oh my God, you’re so young. You would be the one to do the record with me. You get it; you understand it.” I said, “Let’s just do the salsa record. I would love for you to co-produce the record with me, and let’s get the musicians together.” And he talked about the repertoire, and I said, “I have a lot of songs that I’ve written already, and maybe we can flip some of those songs in the salsa.” And that’s exactly what we did as well. So for Tony and me to speak about it, it took two years, and then another two years went by.

So it’s been a minute since we’ve been talking about this project, and it’s finally here. It took almost two years to finish this project because of scheduling. And I have a couple of other bands as well, and getting artists to perform on it and getting the right musicians to play, I think it was really important for me to get this done now since I’m getting older.

I believe that by doing this with Tony, I want young people to understand how important this music is. And it’s now because I see on social media so many young people learning instruments now and singing and playing, and it’s like, you guys, you have to go back and listen to Celia Cruz and Tito Puente and all the greats that have played and that have passed away, but this music needs to live on. And it’s like, now is the time. Now is the time.

Tito Puente is an icon, a legend. You are dedicating this album to him. How did Tito Puente become your godfather?

I used to call him grandpa, and he got mad at me and said, “Don’t ever call me grandpa.” I was like, “Okay, godfather. Okay.” Yes, he was my godfather. He was so inspirational, especially to my dad as well, them hanging out together so young and for so many years which influenced my dad to play percussion as well. My father’s first instrument was saxophone, and he played a little bit of percussion, but after seeing Tito and Mongo, he’s just like... And Ray Barretto is like, “I want to play percussion.” But Tito came around the house and hung out with us, and we would go see him perform. And the thing about it, again, hearing his music and being able to sit in with his bands in New York when I was 17, 18 years old, it was insane because I knew a lot of the songs by heart. But to play those specific parts, Tito was like, “I want you to come play.” And I was like, “But Grandpa, I mean, godfather, Theo, whatever. I don’t know the parts.”

He goes, “It doesn’t matter. You just go and you play and you be you. Forget about those guys that you’re not playing the right part. You just play who you are and it’s okay.” And that was what my dad would do as well. It’s like, just be you. And that was really important because I didn’t realize how many women musicians there were as far as percussion players. We didn’t know very many. Maybe one, maybe two.

Who were those one or two back in the day?

So the first person as a woman playing drums and percussion was Karen Carpenter and her brother. They had a television show, and I was really young and I said to my Dad, I was like, “Oh, look, she plays drums. I play drums. Well, how come me and my brother don’t have a TV show?” I just thought of us as equal. And it was like I was young and I thought, well, I could do that. How come I don’t have a television show? And she was one.

And then the other one, I remember hearing about a lady named Bobbye Hall, and I think she played with Bob Dylan, I’m not sure. And she was a percussion player, but there weren’t many percussion players as far as women that we knew of. I grew up listening to my Dad. My Mom plays a little bit of percussion, but born and raised in the Bay Area in Oakland, you’re used to having a male and female coming together outside in the park.

We would just jam and everyone would pick up an instrument and play. So it didn’t seem so off until I left the Bay Area and noticed that, I guess I’m the only one in the building right now. I was the only woman in a lot of the bands, and it was different.

Your first single is ‘Bemba Colorá’. One of Celia Cruz’s most popular songs!

It’s interesting because I knew I wanted to do three cover songs on this record. I could have done a whole record of covers because there are so many bands and artists that I loved growing up listening to. And of course, I did one for Tito. But Celia, she’s the queen. There was no one like her—not a one. I can’t even compare her to... She’s not to be compared to. And she was it. She’s the only one.

And when I was able to meet her in my teens, I just liked, oh my God, Celia Cruz and I don’t speak Spanish. And we had conversations. They were short, but we had conversations, and she was fine. But to be able to perform with her was ridiculous. It was me being able to sit in at this one show with Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Cachao. It was incredible. You don’t take those times for granted, but knowing how strong she was as a woman and going through what she went through to come here to this country to pursue her career and be who she was and sing her music and her passion, I looked up stories about her, and I saw every documentary or remake of her and her story and all of it.

Do you feel accomplished? Do you think you have to do more? How do you feel right now in your career?

I love bringing people together. I love reaching out to, especially the young women who are up and coming musicians, not just percussion players and drummers, but women in general playing instruments, even vocalists. And I reach out to people from all over the world at least a couple of times during the week and just texting them and saying, “I just want to let you know keep doing what you’re doing. I’m a fan and I love that.”

And they’re freaking out. It’s like, this is the next generation. I’m encouraging you to keep moving. We want to find the next Sheila E. We want to find the next Celia Cruz. We want the new music to come. We’re looking at the young people to bring this to us, the new model business wise, as far as the industry, please somebody come up with a new model because this model in the industry as far as what’s going on now with the streaming is hurting us. It’s killing us.

And I think that we’re the only entity in the world that does not get paid for their services. And it’s unfair because it’s like you coming to me, “Hey, Sheila E, can I borrow your car?” And I give you the keys to my car and you never come back. That’s what streaming is. You’re stealing my works, something that I put my heart and soul into, and then you want to pay me less than a half of a cent.

And so then how do these up and coming artists pursue their career when they’re not sure how they’re getting paid? And it’s the same for us. So we’re looking for all of these things. And for me, it’s like I just want to learn. I want to figure out, I want to help create the new model for the music industry to help better the industry so that everyone gets their part in financially what they’re owed and deserve, and deservingly making sure that they’re being taken care of and all of those things. It is just really, for me, it is a community. It’s not about me. It’s just helping others is what I love to do. Yeah.

This is a new milestone in your career.

Of course. I’m nervous, which is a good thing. I’m excited, you have to be. Never doing a salsa record ever before, it had to be authentic. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it. And anything that I do, I want to make sure that I win in a way that is really just being transparent and truthful with who I am and letting people know this is my first time ever doing a salsa record.

This is a different thing, and I hope that people like it. I love it. And I can say I’m really proud of this record because of all the musicians and the artists that put everything into this project. This is the best record I’ve ever done, hands down. And that’s emotional because it took forever to get here to this point, musically, to be able to do this. And people, they just don’t understand how hard that is. It’s crazy. But I did it. That’s all. I did it.

WATCH SHEILA E.’S INTERVIEW BELOW

CREDITS: Photographer: Gerardo BriceñoStylist: Rafael LinaresHair & Makeup: Natalie MalchevVideo Editor: Daniel Neira Fashion Editor: Chiara PrimatestaDeputy Editor Americas: Alonso Collantes

Thank you Ms. IA Cheveres! You are a total force!

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