Artist description Elias writes music that has been described by many musicians as "...poetic, and ...intricate" as well as "...paints a visual image in your head." Elias expresses his profound feelings for the beauty of life. He says, "I'll never run out of expressing my emotions for the frailties and the beauty of life and nature. They have been bottled up in me since I've been a child. With the help of musical colleagues, I've been able to express my true romantic feelings in my most recent compositions." Elias Pereda grew up in Berkeley, in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, where he was eldest of nine children in a Mexican-American family. He absorbed many Spanish songs from his musical mother in his formative years. His earliest recollections as a child are of poverty, sometimes-even hunger that drove him to look for work at the age of eight. At this time he met George Evans, an older black man who took him under his wing and taught him how to shine shoes. George introduced him to the world of jazz and blues. Billie Holiday, B. B. King, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, he loved them all. He even started singing a song for 10 cents more; his shoeshine customers could pick their favorite song from a list of ten. There was no extra money for music lessons or a piano, so he started fantasizing tunes in his head, bass line and all. In the fifth grade he started music lessons at school (it was free!). The only available instrument at that time was a trumpet, which was and still is a means of expressing his music along with the trombone and piano. Elias took lessons later on as an adult from John Coppola, Joe Alessi and Don Haas. He did horn arrangements for B.B. King, Ray Charles and toured with Sly Stone. He later had formed his own bands that played all over the San Francisco Bay Area with shows at the Hilton, St. Francis, Holiday Inn, local clubs and performing in recording studios. His new album Dawn's Breaking is a good blend of his arranging, singing and beautiful compositions. The title track Dawn's Breaking was performed by Don Haas at U.C. Berkeley's Maybeck Recital Hall and was well received. Today Elias is preparing past and present compositions for new and upcoming releases. Be sure to watch for this "...impressive and memorable" artist, Elias Pereda.

Music Style Jazz, Romantic Jazz, Blues, Latin, Funk

Musical Influences Charlie Parker

Instruments Trumpet, Trombone, Piano, Vocal

Albums Dawn's Breaking

Location San Francisco, California - USA

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