Azteca

Azteca was a large Latin rock band founded by percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:65kap9egGUKOpb84xAutqX">Coke Escovedo</a> (April 30, 1941 - July 13, 1986), formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:6GI52t8N5F02MxU0g5U69P">Santana</a>, in San Francisco in early 1972. <a href="spotify:artist:65kap9egGUKOpb84xAutqX">Escovedo</a> brought in his brother, singer/percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:3EXBBqXojqnitE9lPX0uUZ">Pete Escovedo</a>, and another percussionist Victor Pantoja; singers <a href="spotify:artist:0FBbmU0P9rYOtlUUs7LKZ2">Errol Knowles</a>, Wendy Haas, and Rico Reyes; horn players Bob Ferreira (saxophone), <a href="spotify:artist:3YO63Be7QxrxqBQtgKc4Oc">Tom Harrell</a> (trumpet, flugelhorn), <a href="spotify:artist:2h2o3hLkoD1VZL1PuinEvz">Mel Martin</a> (saxophone, flute), and Jules Rowell (trombone); keyboardists George DiQuatro, George Maribus, and Flip Nunez; guitarist Jim Vincent; bass player <a href="spotify:artist:7gsPbGDWVe9eSVwI1ZZpnP">Paul Jackson</a>; and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:478WAnkTtQach00La2gvxR">Lenny White</a>. (Guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4YLlWUd8PnnyGVKxqoebs7">Neal Schon</a>, another former member of <a href="spotify:artist:6GI52t8N5F02MxU0g5U69P">Santana</a>, sat in on guitar, bringing the total lineup to 17 musicians.) The band signed to Columbia Records and released its self-titled debut album in December 1972; it spent nine weeks in the lower reaches of the charts starting in January 1973.

Azteca recorded a second album, Pyramid of the Moon, for release in the fall of 1973. By the time it appeared, Bill Courtial had replaced Vincent on guitar; Pat O'Hara had replaced Rowell on trombone; and John Brinck had replaced <a href="spotify:artist:478WAnkTtQach00La2gvxR">White</a> on drums. The album failed to reach the charts, and personnel changes continued, with <a href="spotify:artist:65kap9egGUKOpb84xAutqX">Coke Escovedo</a> leaving the group, after which Columbia canceled its recording contract. Azteca continued to perform around the San Francisco Bay Area until disbanding in 1976, with <a href="spotify:artist:3EXBBqXojqnitE9lPX0uUZ">Pete Escovedo</a>'s teenage daughter <a href="spotify:artist:6OQrOpxSIfPai3cFaN4v4P">Sheila Escovedo</a> (later known as <a href="spotify:artist:6OQrOpxSIfPai3cFaN4v4P">Sheila E.</a>) replacing Pantoja toward the end.

Filmmaker Daniel E. Meza began trying to put Azteca back together in the mid-2000s, eventually succeeding in assembling a version of the band that included <a href="spotify:artist:3EXBBqXojqnitE9lPX0uUZ">Pete Escovedo</a>, Courtial, Haas, <a href="spotify:artist:7gsPbGDWVe9eSVwI1ZZpnP">Jackson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0FBbmU0P9rYOtlUUs7LKZ2">Knowles</a>, Pantoja, Rowell, and <a href="spotify:artist:478WAnkTtQach00La2gvxR">White</a>, along with trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:7lqJD9Y7IzkuwBKcMzpI8H">Mario Gonzalez</a>, keyboard player <a href="spotify:artist:33cHzprZMjw6xddISmD19p">Murray Low</a>, flute and saxophone player Melecio Magdaluyo, and piccolo and saxophone player <a href="spotify:artist:7bQdQQJOETWktiHiICE28F">Alex Murzyn</a>. This 12-piece unit played a concert at the Key Club in Hollywood, CA, on September 15, 2007, that Meza filmed and recorded for the DVD documentary Azteca: La Piedra del Sol and the live album From the Ruins, both released by Inakustik on January 20, 2009. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi