My first known introduction to Paul Pena was through the documentary Genghis Blues, which follows him to Tuva, a region on the border of Serbia/Mongolia made famous for its deep and culturally significant Tuvan throat singing. My real, and unknown, introduction to this musical genius found my teenaged ass rocking out to the Steve Miller Band’s rendition of his Jet Airliner. It would be 17 years later until I heard Pena’s version, which is miles beyond the SMB version that made the song famous.
Born in Hyannis, Massachusets in 1950, Paul Pena’s grandparents hailed from the Cape Verde Islands, just off the Western coast of Africa. (It is interesting to note that the famous Cesaria Evora also hails from this same island, a location obviously entrenched in its rich musical heritage).
Two years after his debut at the Newport Folk Festival in 1969, Paul moved to San Francisco, soon becoming one of the city’s many creative sons.
After picking up a Radio Moscow feature on his short-wave radio, Paul Pena spent the following 8 years trying to find the origin of the amazing harmonies he heard, ultimatley revealing the art of Tuvan throat singing. Using English-Russian and Russian-Tuvan dictionaries and an obsolete ‘Opticon’ scanning device which translates text into sensations, Pena trained himself in this Tuvan art form.
Damn. That’s a whole bunch of work to try and learn a skill that few on Earth master. Now nicknamed “Earthquake” by the Tuvan masters themselves, Paul Pena had indeed taught himself this absurdly difficult art, and well.
Plagued by years of battling both Pancreatitus and Diabetes, Paul’s suffering ended October 1, 2005. I can only thank him for the music he has given us, and look forward to his treasures I have yet to discover.
white silk says
Ms. Darby – Nice post/homage to Mr. Pena. Not sure if you knew it but Genghis Blues was directed by two ETHS grads – the brothers Belic (Adrian, class of ’88 and Roko, class of ’89). The film made a nice little splash in the Chicago area due to its roots in E-Town. Oh yeah, and the fact that it was an Oscar nominated “Best Documentary (Feature)” didn’t hurt its popularity either.
Pena’s life is a sad yet uplifting story indeed – Knowledge!
darby says
Thank YOU, White Silk. (SO makes me laugh – your name and all…)
I did NOT know that E-town (Evanston, IL, for any readers who may be confused; home of Northwestern, White-silk, Evil Vince, and on and on and on) was the origin of these fine filmmakers. Damn. And (seemingly) of good Yugoslavian stock, no?
white silk says
White Silk back at it (btw, the silly nickname was given by a former co-worker who was aptly nicknamed Grasshopper for his skills in “following the leader..” – haha.
And, yes, your skills in nailing down the ancestral origin of the Belic Bros. is spot-on – they are “of good Yugoslavian stock.” Now the question might be Serbian/Croatian/Czech which I do not know, nor do you probably (or anyone else reading this comment entry, for that matter). hahaha
Peace!
evil says
You all rock-
I know the Brothers Belic – good people
as I was class of ’90.
thanks for sharing Darby.
Go Bears.
ev
Russell Bassman says
Hi Darby.
I hope that you remember me from SST. Nice to see you online. Great site design.
My first introduction to Paul was through “Ghengis Blues” as well. I then found on amazon the “New Train” record, which just blew my mind. He was such an amazinhly soulful songwriter.
When I heard that he had died, I emailed through his website, and was glad to hear back from his brother that there was an outpouring of love coming their way.
Paul will always be remembered.
Take care, Darby.
Yours,
Russell Bassman