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On The Beat With Louie Cruz
Topics: Louie Cruz Beltran, Bakersfield, percussion, matt munoz, Mas Magazine, Latino, music
Posted by matt Fri Oct 3, 2008 13:09:53 PDT
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0 responses 1 comment Location: 1721 19th st., Bakersfield, CA 93301

Bakersfield's very own drummer boy
Latin Jazz favorite Louie Cruz Beltran to perform at the Nile, Oct. 3. 8pm!

By  Matt Muñoz
MÁS staff

Percussionist Louie Cruz Beltran walks and talks in rhythm.

Whether onstage with his Latin jazz orchestra, speaking to city youth, or just at home with his family — everyday is a new composition added to his life’s work.

Returning to perform at the Nile Theater on Friday, Oct. 3 — the Bakersfield-bred musician has finally come face to face with his true musical calling.

“I have a desire to bring joy to people,” said Louie during a hometown visit on Sept. 17. “And give people the truth.”

A combination of flashy entertainment backed with a message of respect for the great teachers of his past, Louie’s “truth” is a message you can’t deny — especially on the dance floor.

“Bakersfield is definitely a dancing town,” he said. “I’ll be bringing some of the classic stuff back, as well as some Latin jazz and salsa.”

Chances are if you’ve been active on the Bakersfield nightclub scene, you know what classics Louie speaks of — funky RnB with a spicy kick. Memories of the ‘70s, right?

While everyone boasts about memories of Louie’s deep Bakersfield musical roots for the past three decades, don’t expect a flashback show — this is the Louie Cruz for a new generation, complete with a familiar, but revamped sound.

Though he’s not shy about his age, the well-groomed and always stylish Louie, still prefers to keep it all about the music and not veteran status associated with a particular number.

“I don’t want to divide demographics talking about my age,” explained Louie. “I’d like everyone to feel welcome to enjoy my music.”

Fair enough.

“My new band is big — horn section, full percussion,” described Louie of his current band, which has helped make a name for himself all over Southern California — a musical far cry from his youthful days locally at the Starlight Roller Rink, The Bakersfield Inn, and Cheney’s Lounge, where he held court for more than seven years with his former group, West Coast Players, among others.

“Those were good times, but it would get stagnant,” he remembered. “You go full circle at a place like that. Fallouts with band members, working seven nights a week sometimes — you look back, and ask yourself: What are you going to do with what you’ve learned?”

Those life lessons weren’t confined to the stages of local nightclubs either.

Taking time to look back at his early days as a kid from east Bakersfield, Louie — the middle sibling from a family of eight brothers: Salvador, Eddie, Tommy, Roy, Robert, Frank, Stevie, and sisters;  Dolores and Esther — the Beltran home was indeed a packed house. Not to mention his beloved parents; mother, Auralia, and father, Louie Sr., who did their best to keep their family together through a series of relocations and a difficult divorce.


Louie (far right), with brothers - Frank & Robert.

During those difficult times, Louie credits his mom — who turned 89 this passed July 4 — with being their strength.

“My mom was a hard worker and took care of all of us kids,” he said fondly of his mother. “Second to Jesus, she’s my savior. She taught me how to cook, sing …”

Like most Mexican families, the kitchen was where his mother’s energy was the strongest.

“My mom would be making tortillas, singing gospel — songs by Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Eydie Gorme. All of us kids were like chirping little birds around her,” said Louie with a smile.

Louie’s father, who passed away in 1984, left the family when Louie was in the first grade. But as Louie remembers it, his love was never far.

“My father left, but he came back like Zorro,” he said. “I really don’t have any bad memories of my childhood. My parents were very natural and unpretentious, who spoke what they felt, but never to hurt people’s feelings.”


Mariachi Man: Louie as a senior at EBHS

Moving from Bakersfield to Delano, Fresno, and then back to Bakersfield, Louie always stayed active in sports as a Golden Gloves boxer, training at the Eastside Gym.

With a wealth of tales to tell, Louie shares the “nervous twitch story” and how it ultimately helped bring out his natural talent — drumming.

“I used to have this nervous twitch where I was always tapping or playing the drums with my hands on the chair I was sitting in,” he remembered. “One day when I was sitting in class, I made one of my teachers so angry he made me stand outside in the cold.”

Standing outside, his P.E. teacher, Mr. Timberlake approached him.

“He saw me out there and I told him about what happened. He said, ‘We got to get you into drumming.’  So, I joined the school drumline learning cadence and marching. I would walk four miles from school to my house playing over the bridge, and through the alleys,” Louie said.


Louie as a Bakersfield College freshman

In addition to sports and drumming, he also got involved in folkloric dancing, mariachi singing and acting with his brother Robert — whom many know as Commander Chakotay from the “Star Trek: Voyager” TV series, among other movie projects.

Together, Louie and Robert practiced script lines from theater plays they were cast in during high school and into college.

“I read lines to Robert when were young,” Louie said. “But acting wasn’t a passion for me like it was for my brother.” Back at home, Louie imitated his favorite talents from Hollywood — drummer Gene Krupa, and pop artists of the day — The Beatles, Elvis, and TV’s first mambo king, Desi Arnaz.


Louie in Paris, 1976
 
“I was given some souvenir bongos by my neighbor, Reggie Morales,” he said. “I imitated the visuals I saw from those artists — their showmanship and how Desi would play. But I ended up making holes in the bongos with some butter knives I used like drumsticks.”

With enough nervous energy to last a lifetime and an eagerness to learn, the young musician didn’t wait for chance to find him.

“My first band in high school was called the Sadistic Blues Band,” Louie  said with a laugh. “I played drums and sang. I even played guitar for awhile.”

But his involvement in rock music was only short-lived, when he began taking interest in Latin artists like Tito Puente, Perez Prado, Sonora Santanera, Ray Barretto, and Mongo Santamaria — a world outside of Latin rockers Santana and Malo, who ruled barrio sound systems.


Heavy Weather Band, 1984 :From left - Wilson Mackey, Lupe costa, Tito Huizar, Sonny Easter, Ruben Sanchez, and Louie Cruz Beltran.

“Before Santana, it was rare to see congas in bands,” explained Louie. “In the ‘70s, congas in rock music were flourishing. But I was really drawn to the purity of what Puente was playing. I began attending shows by those artists like a stalker wanting to find out their technique for myself.”

Seeking the basics, he found himself in a struggle between his own rock, free-form style and the foundation of every Afro Cuban music form — the clave. This proved to be more than frustrating at first.

The “clave” is the root or musical key signature in Cuban music and a guide for serious congueros. There are three primary claves to learn in order to perform a proper cha-cha, mambo, guanguanco, to name a few: Son, Rumba, and 6/8.

“I had to get back to the discipline, and it made me mad,” said Louie. “But I got into it and wanted to learn.”

As a personal fan and student of the craft, he took it all in. But trying to convince his friends was a different story.

“I felt like a fish out of water sometimes,” he said.

One day working out in the hot sunny fields of Kern County, Louie met his first conga mentor, Jorge Claudio, from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Upon learning of Louie’s interest in the ways of Latin tradition, Claudio reached out to share his knowledge.


Louie on timbales, 1989

“Jorge asked, ‘¿Tienes congas en la casa?,’ and that was it,’ said Louie. “There weren’t many conga instructors at the time, and he taught me discipline and authenticity. He brought over a recording of Cuba’s Los Munequitos de Matanzas, and I knew this guy was my new brother.”

Nightly jam sessions at what he calls the “Chicano Bermuda Triangle” rehearsal space with friends kept the congas fires burning — while the barrio spun its own dangerous web outside.

“We named it that because it was by the overpass, and there would be dead winos found all the time outside on the street,” Louie said shaking head, thinking back. “It wasn’t nice, but we made do with what we had.”

Now secure in his own abilities and a new found respect for the tradition, Louie would form bands to take his love to the stage in various local bands throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s — Sangre del Sol, which he lays claim as “Bakersfield’s first salsa band,” La Funk, Cruz Control, Heavy Weather, and as a featured artist in reggae hybrid band, OP Stylee. Building a reputation as an entertainer, Louie even managed to score a brief gig with ‘70s RnB/disco group DeBlanc (which later became Starfire), touring Europe, Africa, and Finland. Making a detour to Paris, France, Louie also took lessons at the city’s conservatory and learned to write music through his hands — left hand bass and right hand horns.

“Afro Cuban jazz is classical music,” said Louie. “Everything kept making sense as I moved on.”

And move on he did — making friends and building lasting connections with musicians and mentors like Bay Area percussion legends Coke and Pete Escovedo, among an impressive list.


City Councilmember Tom LaBonge presenting Proclamation from City of Los Angeles and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Louie Cruz Beltran in honor of his release of new CD "LIVE AT THE FORD" and his contributions to the arts in Hollywood and Los Angeles at Catalina's Jazz Club in Hollywood on January '08.

Now in 2008, Louie continues to make waves, both as an artist and motivational speaker working with his mentorship program, RBI, which helps provide baseball programs for inner city youth.
 
This along with his management company, Corniche, under the direction of Chairman and CEO Anastasia Mann, Louie has new goals to reach in Hollywood and, of course, at home in Bakersfield.

“Anastasia has taught me the politics of the business,” he said. “It’s not just about being a musician anymore.”

Often, it means giving back.

“Louie came out to support the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop benefit show this past March 15, and ended up jamming on stage with the Ruben Estrada Orchestra who performed that night,” said Fred Sanchez, events coordinator for the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop. “It said a lot about him giving back to the community.”

Doug Davis, director of Jazz Studies at CSUB, says of Louie:

“Louie is a person who should be at the center of any stage — the spotlight is always on him. He’s quite the performer and the audience can always expect a great show.”

What about Louie Cruz Beltran — talk show host?

“We’ve been talking about the possibility of a talk show in Los Angeles,” he said. “We’ll be trying to develop a pilot complete with a house band.”

With his ever-present bag of wisdom filled by former teachers at his side, Louie pulls out one more before heading back out on the road in rhythm: 

“Always give respect to what you love to do.”

CD's available now:


www.louiecruzbeltran.com

-Louie Cruz Latin Jazz Orchestra LIVE!
-Friday, October 3, 2008 - 8pm
-The Nile Theater, 1721 19th St.
-Tickets: $25 & $50
-www.vallitix.com
-661-322-5200

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Comment From: msjosey

Very good story Mr Munoz!