Come home, breathe deep Away from the cry of false alarms Heartfelt expression Walking at the edge Of a cement encased river Longing to breakout and flow free All at once La música de Ray Sandoval... by María Elena Gaitán Like an endangered *saguaro in the urban sunset, braided between los freeways and the city lights, making our way through the rubble of deceptive commercial stages, we desert walkers who prefer to sing heartfelt into the howling electric wilderness, are Chicano musicians. Son of a Japanese mother and the Arizona desert, guitarist composer Ray Sandoval is such a musician, an accomplished artistic voice, sencillo y pasional. Like urban graffiti, las canciones de Ray Sandoval spray themselves across our consciousness marking us with his melancholic brew, at once familiar and unknown. His melodies are undeniable, as if he were waiting for us fondly al voltear la esquina, just 'round the bend... Breathe Deep We who are strangers in our own land We who inhabit At the intersection of pain and tenderness Offer up These canciones sencillas, Deceptive in their unpretentious cloak Casting coral purple shadows On the ancient scorched sands between the freeways, Away from the cry of false alarms. Heartfelt expressions Walking at the edge Of a cement encased river Longing to break free and overflow All at once. From the silence Esa canción surprises us kindly Written in the crosswinds Against the current But always with the flow Sangre y sueños Los espejos de la vida Waiting for things yet to come In the mystery of the obsidian night. Take me there To the place where you are without pretense To the place where no words are necessary To the place where you can cry and moan At the edge between the worlds. Take me to that crossroads Where you conjure up las voces From wood and nylon strings From the fire of chile And the nectar of a cactus bloom, Where you make all From nothing at all Creating the path One step at a time In the moment Rupturing the silence Reaching for el recuerdo De un beso endulzado Emerging from the shadows Of the mystery of **Nepantla, The place in-between, The world between worlds. In the war for hearts and minds Among the battles for recognition Let me ramble loose and easy In a minor key In that unfamiliar place Perdida en una lágrima de cristal Where your fingers glide instinctively Without effort Melting down the tensions Like the whisper of an Earthmother's lullabye Calming the cry of the cosmic child Alma infinita Bathed in clear waters Come home Breathe deep About Chola Con Cello... East L.A. native María Elena Gaitán , also known as 'La Chola Con Cello' is Chicana musician, performance artist and writer, and a friend of Ray Sandoval. www.cholaconcello.com Footnotes: *The Saguaro is the tree of the Sonoran desert, a giant cactus that lives in desert slopes and flats, especially in the rocky bajadas. The magnificent saguaro wraps its roots around rocks to anchor itself from the blowing winds and grows very slowly, -- perhaps an inch a year -- to a great height of up to 50 feet. The largest plants, with more than 5 arms, are estimated to be over 200 years old and can only be fertilized by cross-pollination - pollen from a different cactus. The creamy white saguaro flowers bloom in the mystery of the night, secreting nectar into their tubes, awaiting pollination. **"Nepantla" is a word used by Nahuatl-speaking Aztec people in the sixteenth century to define their own situation in relationship to the Spanish colonizers. Dominican missionary Diego Durán wrote an ethnographic history of the Nahuatl speakers from the Valley of Mexico. He asked one of his Indian informants what he thought about the difficult cultural situation that had been created for his people by the Spanish invasion. The indian responded, "estamos nepantla." This pre-Columbian concept of nepantla has been described as "the crack in the world" by Chicana poet and writer Gloria Anzaldúa. It is a place of transition, the world in-between in which we move from the familiar to the unknown in order to reach a new understanding. Nepantla is the uncertain terrain we sometimes enter willingly. Other times nepantla is forced upon us by the circumstances of our lives. Nepantla has been interpreted by Chicano scholars as "a state of resisting the mainstream, in order to reinterpret and redefine cultural difference as a place of power." Nepantla can also represent the process of people who do creative work, who must enter the realm of the unknown in order to emerge by creating their own understanding of the world. Breathe Deep: The Music of Ray Sandoval © María Elena Gaitán 2004 The Mirrors Of The Life Waiting For Things Yet To Come Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Art Hirahara - Piano Ray Sandoval - Guitar Tony Austin - Djembe Mira La Que Chevere Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Ray Sandoval - Guitar, Tres Joey De Leon - Congas, Timbales, Guiro Rocio Marron - Violin Gabriel Gonzalez - Vocals Eastside Sunset Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Ray Sandoval - Guitar Joey De Leon - Congas Recuerdos De Isabel Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Ray Sandoval - Guitar, Handclaps Joey De Leon - Congas, Guiro, Cowbell Kiko Cornejo - Maracas Cristina Nava - Handclaps Dream Etude Rene Camacho - Bass Ray Sandoval - Guitar Piensalo * Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Art Hirahara - Piano Ray Sandoval - Guitar Joey De Leon - Congas, Guiro Gabriel Gonzalez - Vocals Pat Me Bryon Holley - Drums, Brushes Rene Camacho - Bass Art Hirahara - Piano Ray Sandoval - Guitar, Guitar Synth Joey De Leon - Congas Brad Dutz - Tan Tan At The Edge Between The Worlds Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Art Hirahara - Piano, Rhodes Piano Ray Sandoval - Guitar Joey De Leon - Chekere Brad Dutz - Triangle Rocio Marron - Violin, Viola John Krovoza - Cello Tranquilo ** Bryon Holley - Drums Rene Camacho - Bass Ray Sandoval - Tres Joey De Leon - Congas Brad Dutz- Agogo, Tan Tan, Caxixi Destani Wolf - Vocals Fussa Lullaby Ray Sandoval - Guitar Alma Infinita Bryon Holley - Drums, Tambourine Rene Camacho - Bass Art Hirahara - Rhodes Piano Ray Sandoval - Guitar All music and arrangements by Ray Sandoval Music (ASCAP) except where noted *Music and Lyrics by Gabriel Gonzalez and Ray Sandoval Bikabur Publishing, ASCAP, Ray Sandoval Music, ASCAP **Music and Lyrics by Destani Wolf and Ray Sandoval Destani Wolf Music BMI, Ray Sandoval Music ASCAP Thanks to: My mother Tatsue Hasegawa, Dad and Margaret Sandoval, Maria Elena Gaitan, MH3, Chiyoko Tanaka and Allan Moyle, Mika Akao, Jason Kennedy, Tomoko Kiriishi and Gloria Anzaldua R.I.P., Gabriel Tennorio for use of his guitar in the video, Tony Austin for getting tones on the Drum Kit, La Gente en Echo Parque. Special thanks to: all the musicians who contributed their talents on this record. Shin, Miho, Shusaku, at Music Camp. Recuerdos de Isabel was written for Las Isabelas, a cancer survivor group A Phocus Music Production Produced by Ray Sandoval Recorded at Phocus Studios, Los Angeles, CA, March 2004 Additional tracks recorded at Akao's Studio in Tokyo, Japan, May 2004 Mixed in Tokyo, Japan at Akao's Studio, May 2004 Recorded and Engineered by Ray Sandoval Mixed and Mastered by Ray Sandoval Remasterd by Tucky at JVC, June 2004 All Compositions and Arrangements by Ray Sandoval, except where noted *Music and Lyrics by Gabriel Gonzalez and Ray Sandoval **Music and Lyrics by Destani Wolf and Ray Sandoval Gabriel Gonzalez appears courtesy of Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company Ray Sandoval uses Groove Tubes Pre-amps and La Bella Strings Copyright 2004 Ray Sandoval All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.