JP and I started writing production music for TV and film around 1995. Our first gig was writing music for Entertainment Tonight. We wrote somewhere around 300 minutes of music for that show. Paramount later took all of that music and put it into their music library. After that our music got used on everything from The Ellen Degeneres Show to all of the Law and Orders. We were very happy about that! Then we met our dear friend Elisabeth Oei at Sonoton Music who hired us to write our first music library cd. Our theme was Banda/Tex-Mex. We both know all different styles of Latin music so it was a good fit. We wanted the music and the musicians to be authentic and not people who were trying to cop the style. When I was little and just starting to take guitar lessons my folks and I would go down to Olivera Street and walk around enjoying the food, shops and of course the music. My Dad Nino Carbe would always say,” are you watching what the guitarists are doing? You need to be able to do that”. Yes, he was my strongest advocate and a huge influence on me becoming a musician.
So, when we needed musicians to play Banda and Tex-Mex that’s where we went!
We found all sorts of wonderful musicians! All the musicians on that CD are from Olvera Street except for JP and myself. Well, we also needed singers, of which there were many to choose from. There was one young girl that really stood out and her name was Marisol. JP and I were blown away! She was 15 and had the most beautiful and authentic voice. We met her father Lalo who contracted all the musicians at that time in Olvera Street. We told him who we wanted to use and he made it happen.
When some of these musicians would come to record they would bring the family with them. It was unusual for us but very festive and we enjoyed hanging out with all of them.
When Marisol came into sing she always called JP “mister” and she was so very polite and respectful. She recorded Sin Tu Amor and La Ultima Noche on our Banda/Tex-Mex CD CD and on our next Sonoton CD Latin Pop Charts she recorded Relampagos. Over the years we tried to stay in touch and would see her Dad and hear about what she was doing from time to time.
This year, we found out that Marisol now Marisoul is part of the Grammy winning band Santa Cecilia. We were so blown away and happy for her success. We went down to see her perform at La Cita. What an amazing talent! It is so wonderful to see someone take charge of their career and succeed! She was an amazing talent when she was a teenager and she has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with. Please do yourself a favor and check her and her band Santa Cecilia out. You will be inspired!
