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Three Years of Service!
April 13, 8:00PM (RSVP now)
San Francisco, CA
Paul Pena
Paul Pena is the son of immigrants from Cape Verde, West
Africa, and lives in San Francisco where he plays a unique blend
of Mississippi Delta blues, Cape Verdian folk, and Tuvan throat
music. As a blind Creole-American, Pena has continually struggled
against injustice through the messages in his music.
Paul first heard a fragment of harmonic singing on a
shortwave Radio Moscow broadcast on December 29, 1984
and he was so struck by it, he spent almost eight years
trying to track down its source. In 1991 he was finally able to
locate a recording of Tuvan music and taught himself the unique
vocal techniques. He became so good that he won the 'audience
favorite' award at an international competition held in Kyzyl,
the capital of Tuva." He became
Did You Know
- Paul was born blind with congenital glaucoma. He was also
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer until the doctors realized, years
later, it was mis-diagnosed.
- In his musical career Paul played with many of the blues greats,
John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell,
'Big Bones,' and T. Bone Walker.
- In his early prime, his wife -- 'Babe' -- was diagnosed with
cancer also. Paul left his career to take care of her, himself
blind and in poor health.
- Since the release of the film, Genghis Blues, and the CD
Soundtrack , Paul was named 'San Francisco's Tuvan Blues Ambassador'
and July 11, 1999 was declared 'Paul Pena Day' by the mayor.
Famous Quotes
- To Pena, his music represents the "inter-cultural harmony
which is becoming increasingly important for the development of a
sustainable world environment."
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