Saavedra sings with heart of poet
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What: Jose "Pepo" Saavedra CD release party
When: 10:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Plush, 340 E. Sixth St.
Price: $5
Info: 798-1298, plushtucson.com
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Tucson folk musician José "Pepo" Saavedra Iguina is the type of person many of us deep down wish we could be.
The guitarist and singer-songwriter is patient, noble, optimistic and altruistic - a rarity in today's increasingly self-centered, cynical and materialistic world.
A 34-year-old native of Puerto Rico, he is a former Peace Corps volunteer who, as a developmental specialist, helps babies for a living. He's also worked on behalf of immigrants.
He is a study in tranquility and concentration as he discusses his music while seated at an outdoor table at bohemian hangout Epic Cafe on a recent toasty afternoon. Things that would drive most of us mad - a fly buzzing around his head, a vibrating truck blaring out heavy metal - don't faze him as he takes a sip of his double espresso, rolls a cigarette and contemplates an answer.
"From the education I was given by my parents," he says with a slight accent as he describes the roots of his social activism. "I was raised to be a human being, to feel for each other, to develop empathy."
That empathy and humanity are evident in his new album, "Ver Cada Ver," whose release is the occasion for a party Friday at Plush.
The disc, his third, continues his focus on nueva canción, or trova, Latin American folk music derived from traditional storytelling that often carries a sociopolitical message. Recorded in Puerto Rico and Tucson, the all-Spanish 15-track CD is Saavedra's poetry set to music.
He sings with the passion and heart of a poet as he addresses war, politics and human nature.
The recording concludes his trilogy of discs containing the prefix "ver" - Spanish for "to see" - in the titles. The first, 2004's "Veredas Verdes," translates to "Green Pathways." Recorded in 2005, the second, "Versos Reversos" is "Verse Reverse." The new "Ver Cada Ver" means to see and to see again or to see every sight.
Although the titles may sound alike, the topics are vastly different.
"The first one is based on stories collected from the road or from the green pathways that I've been walking on through the years, and it has stories about the beautiful country of Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and stories about Latinos in the U.S. and stories about the U.S.," Saavedra says.
"The second one was more focused on Tucson and includes the only English song on the CD, called 'Hunting Season,' about The Minutemen. And the third one is split between Tucson and the U.S. and deals with a variety of themes, including chance to the current political situation in Puerto Rico to the situation only people who have been foreigners can understand: that feeling of being an outsider and looking at the world almost through a glass."
Helping outsiders break through the glass is impossible without empathy, another theme of Saavedra's work.
"There's nothing wrong with feeling sad or feeling pain. From that, we start feeling for each other," he says. "I think if the majority of the people started seeing themselves reflected in other people's situations, we could probably start loving each other a little more."
Nowhere is this message more emphatic than on the title track, about the devastation caused by war:
And what is that we wish to see?
Dead bodies floating on streams, to see
And what is that we wish to see?
Children dismembered by bombs, to see
And what is that we wish to see?
Mothers assembling missiles, to see
Saavedra's piercing and intelligent writing has drawn the admiration of other local musicians, including Joey Burns of Calexico, who plays cello on two songs on the new disc. The two met while working on a compilation CD for KXCI in 2004.
"Pepo is an extremely talented guitarist and singer. He has that depth that so few have," Burns writes in an e-mail.
Also featured on the disc is Saavedra's linguist wife Elise DuBord, who plays violin. The two moved to Tucson in 2001 so she could attend graduate school at the University of Arizona.
She, along with Becca Bleich on viola and Michael Hummer on drums, will perform with Saavedra as La Desgracia Music Ensemble at the CD release party.
Although Saavedra has recorded three CDs and performed at the Tucson Folk Festival, he is still relatively unknown in the Old Pueblo - kind of like a hidden treasure.
"Tucson is very lucky to have someone of this caliber in its backyard," Burns says. "I am sure he will find much success in the near future."
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