Br. Cleve clears the air
Many rumors and mis-information have been circulating concerning Esquivel's health and plans for a new album. His close friend (and potential collaborator), Br. Cleve decided to set the record straight...Let me straighten this out. As many of you on know, Esquivel is a
good friend of mine - I have stayed with him at his home for a few weeks,
written music with him, etc etc. I am also the project manager and
executive producer of what will be his new album. He is very much alive and
well and living outside of Cuernavaca, in central Mexico. After being
confined to his bed for the last year and a half, his new doctor has him up
in a wheelchair again. He is undergoing physical therapy to try to relearn
how to walk. Other than that, his health is excellent. His memory about
things that happened 30 years ago needs to be refreshed on occassion, but I
would think that's normal for a 78 year old.
I have talked to Apple (who are providing help, not hardware) and
Kurzweill, and Mark Mothersbaugh and Irwin Chusid have talked to Opcode,
and we are in the process of setting Juan up with a small MIDI studio to
help facilitate the writing of his new arrangements. He is doing them by
hand, like he has done for the last 50 years, but he is very interested in
being *actual* (in Spanish, "up to date"), something he has always prided
himself in. He and I have used samplers and sequencers, a process he is
most intriqued with.
As reported in both the NME and Seconds magazine, I approached Juan with
the concept of recording the album with musicians who cite him as an
influence (sort of a lounge "super group", for lack of a better term),
rather than a group of faceless session players. He loved the idea. Since
Combustible Edison are close friends of mine (I have played in the 'touring
version' of the band on 5 of their 6 tours), I would love to see them
involved. I have also spoken to Mike Flowers and Joey Seehee about adding
their vocal prowess to the zu-zu-zu's, and there are others of the "new
breed" whom we would like to have involved (Juan especially enjoys Joey
Altruda). Recording plans are not definite at the moment - if we can get
Esquivel on a plane, then we will probably record in Los Angeles (I am also
in touch with Neely Plumb, who produced many of Esquivel's 60's recordings,
and who will be involved in this). If he can't fly, Mexico City is only an
hour away from where he lives, and we can get him there in a wheelchair
van.
Just to whet your appetites, I can tell you that he has sent me the
completed chart to his arrangement of Mendelssohn's Wedding March (which
many of you will remember from "The Newlywed Game"), and am awaiting "As
Time Goes By", "Singin' In The Rain", and a new original entitled
"Guacamole". He may do a new version of his sensational song "Don Quixote"
(AKA "Pecado Mortal"), which was never released in the U.S., as well as an
arrangement of Ravel's Bolero. He's planning on 12 cuts. If all goes well,
we'll be recording this winter for release sometime next year.
--- Br Cleve
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