From Walatowa (Jemez Pueblo), Malcom Yepa’s contribution to New Mexico’s music industry is prodigious and unique. Malcom is an accomplished musician as a singer, drummer and composer both in Native American Pueblo and Powwow styles. Malcom was raised in the traditional ways of his ancestors – fluent in his Native language Towa – and is a paraprofessional educator. Malcom is recipient of the New Mexico Music Commission’s 2018 Platinum Music Award.
In 1989 while in Montana, Malcom was captivated with the Powwow style of singing and drumming. Upon returning to Jemez Pueblo, he created and led the Black Eagle Powwow Drum Group. Over 28 years, Malcom led Black Eagle in a style that was new to his Pueblo People and become internationally known and admired in the North American “Powwow Circle.”
Black Eagle, whose CD’s are Grammy and Native American Music Award winners, have contributed to New Mexico’s music industry through their original music, continuous teaching of multi-generational singers from youth to elders, as well representing New Mexico Native American music and culture.
Throughout their travels, Black Eagle have always proudly represented Jemez Pueblo and the State of New Mexico gaining the respect of the music community which led to award acknowledgments of Black Eagles’ outstanding original compositions.
above: Malcom’s tribute video from the 2018 Platinum Music Awards show at the Lensic. Filmed and edited by Bunee Tomlinson of Windswept Media. Produced by the New Mexico Music Commission Foundation, David Schwartz Executive Producer.
Cipriano Vigil is a 2019 New Mexico Music Commission Platinum Music Awards honoree. He was born and raised in the small village of Chamisal, New Mexico. He received his baccalaureate degree in Music Education from Highlands University. Upon completion of his undergraduate work, he received a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Bilingual Education, also from Highlands University. Another scholarship followed from the Mexican government. In Mexico, he studied at the National Institute of Fine Arts where he obtained a second master’s degree in Ethnomusicology. While studying in Mexico, he would go to every and any place where music was played, including dance halls and bars. From these excursions, he absorbed the knowledge of many different styles of music.
He began his career as a professor at Northern New Mexico College in 1980, and retired from that institution in 2004. It was during this time that he also completed his doctorate in Ethnomusicology, which he received in 1988. This same year he became the Chairperson of the Fine Arts Department, a position he held for ten years. Because of his love for music and teaching, he continues to work at NNMC as a part time instructor in folk music.
His early background and training in music instilled his with a passion for preserving and disseminating the folk music of northern New Mexico. From his several presentations at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D. C., to elementary school classrooms of New Mexico, and cowboy poetry gatherings in Elko, Nevada, he has presented thousands of performances and workshops. He has brought traditional music to various regions throughout the U.S. and has performed in several states in the country of Mexico. These presentations consist not only of traditional New Mexican folk music but also La Nueva Canción (the new songs), a style that originated in South America.
Cipriano produced a four volume set of traditional New Mexican folk music, with accompanying CDs that he uses with his students at NNMC. Another self published work is a collection of his own compositions written in the traditional style as well as the style of La Nueva Canción. He self published a manuscript of sixty-seven of his compositions for violin and guitar, which he uses with my folk ensemble class. He has written several compositions for theatrical performances and for films. Recently, he composed and recorded several one movement symphonic works named Poemas Musicales (musical poems). UNM Press is currently publishing a book he wrote of the folklore of New Mexico, which will be accompanied by twenty-one long playing CDs.
In his many presentations at local schools, he brings part of his collection of over three hundred musical instruments from around the world. He plays them and gives the students a little history of each instrument.
His presentations and performances have won several prestigious awards. These include being honored as a Living Treasure, the Governor’s Arts Award, and the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities Award. He has been nominated three times for the National Heritage Award for outstanding work in maintaining and preserving traditional folk music.
Cipriano’s son, Cipriano Pablo Vigil, and his daughter, Felicita Vigil Piñón, have performed with him in concerts for over 25 years. Recently, his granddaughter Marisol Vigil, his grandson Mitzael Piñón, and his youngest grandson Alonzo Vigil have been performing with them on stage.
above: video biopic short about Cipriano – premiered August 23, 2019 at the Platinum Music Awards show – created by Bunee Tomlinson of Windswept Media.
Two-time GRAMMY Award winner, Robert Mirabal, is a 2019 New Mexico Music Commission Platinum Music Awards honoree. He lives with his family at the foot of the sacred Taos Mountain in northern New Mexico. Maintaining a traditional life, keeping the centuries-old customs of the Taos Pueblo people, Robert has been described as a Native American “Renaissance man” – musician, composer, painter, master craftsman, poet, actor, screenwriter, horseman and farmer – and he travels extensively playing his music all over the world. If you live a traditional life you see things differently—spiritually and musically. His first flute came when he was 18 with money he borrowed from his grandmother, and shortly afterward he had the opportunity to meet Native American flute player R. Carlos Nakai who greatly influenced him. When we met he looked at my hands and laughed. He said, “I have that same scar. It’s the scar of the flute maker.”
In the years since, Robert has continued the evolution of his flute making and has also become an accomplished novelist, poet, craftsman, composer, dancer, actor, painter, sculptor, concert performer and recording artist. His dozen albums of traditional music, rock and roll, and spoken word present a contemporary view of American Indian life that is unequaled. My music is informed by the ceremonial music that I’ve heard all my life. What I create comes out of my body and soul in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth. A leading proponent of world music, Robert has merged his indigenous American sound with those of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, tapping into a planetary pulse with a style that defies categorization. My travels have provided me with experiences that I could have never imagined, and exposed me to a global sound and a global voice.
Whether as a composer, songwriter, or musician, Robert has won many honors including two-time Native American Artist of the Year, three-time Songwriter of the Year, a 2006 GRAMMY Award for Sacred Ground, and his 2008 GRAMMY Award for Johnny Whitehorse Totemic Flute Chants, blending all of Robert’s influences into a musical landscape that conjures up both the historic and contemporary West. His 2002 breakthrough PBS Special, Music From a Painted Cave is unsurpassed in Native American theatrical expression. He is also the author of A Skeleton of a Bridge – a book of poetry, prose, and short stories, and most recently his book, Running Alone in Photographs – a memoir laced with gritty, introspective prose, that opens a window to a palpable experience of life in the Pueblo through the voice of Robert’s alter-ego Reyes Winds.
As a theatrical performer, Robert is no stranger to transforming himself. He portrayed Tony Lujan (Taos Pueblo), the famed husband of Mable Dodge Lujan, in the movie Georgia O’Keeffe, a retrospective about artist Georgia O’Keeffe starring three-time Academy Award nominee, Joan Allen. In recent year’s, Robert has appeared on Japanese and Italian TV as well as several guest roles on Walker Texas Ranger. “In August of 2012,” Robert premiered Po’Pay Speaks, his one-man show in Sante Fe about the leader of the Pueblo Revolt (1680) that is now touring internationally.
above: video biopic short about Robert – premiered August 23, 2019 at the Platinum Music Awards show – created by Bunee Tomlinson of Windswept Media.
Adopted at birth, Tom Bee was born and raised in the reservation border town of Gallup, New Mexico. Best known as founder and featured artist with the popular 1970s music group XIT, Bee’s composition “(We’ve Got) Blue Skies” was recorded by Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5 on their worldwide hit album “Maybe Tomorrow.” This led to an artist, writer, and producer contract with Motown Records. While under contract with Motown, XIT released two widely acclaimed albums entitled “Plight of the Redman” and “Silent Warrior.” A single from the latter album entitled “Reservation of Education” went on to become a top 5 selling record in France and other European countries in 1973. The political overtones of Bee’s lyrics kept them from ever achieving superstar status in the United States, but the group developed a cult status in America and Europe, which has allowed their music to survive for the last thirty years.
In fact, one major newspaper once wrote, “These guys are to the Indians like the Beatles were to the White folks.” Amid a legion of loyal fans throughout the world, their live stage presentations drew comparisons by the media to the raw energy of the Rolling Stones. While at Motown, Bee also wrote and produced the title song “Joyful Jukebox Music” for Michael Jackson’s Swan Song album on the label. He also worked with Smokey Robinson on his first solo album “Smokey.” In 1979, one of his compositions “Red Hot” was a top Billboard dance hit by Taka Boom (Chaka Khan’s sister), and in 1985, U.K. Rockabilly sensation Shakin’ Stevens recorded Bee’s “Don’t Be Two Faced” on his highly successful album, “The Bop Won’t Stop.”
Through the years Bee’s compositions have appeared on numerous other albums and special projects as well. In 1989, Bee formed Sound of America Records (SOAR), in the garage of his home. In 1995, Bee formed yet another company, SOAR Distribution LTD for the sole purpose of providing his clients with one-stop music from other independent labels and artists also producing Native American music. In 1999, SOAR purchased all three buildings that they had been leasing since 1991 to house their labels, publishing, and studio operations. SOAR was also enlisted as the exclusive Native American distributor for the Robbie Robertson records “Music for the Native Americans” and “Contact From the Underworld of Redboy,” on Capitol Records, and the multi-million seller “Sacred Spirit” on Virgin Records. SOAR comprises three publishing companies and five different labels; SOAR, Natural Visions, Warrior, Dakotah, and Red Sea. SOAR now has over 300 quality titles of both contemporary and traditional music. Bee has said all along that SOAR was not the first company to record Native American music, but they were the first to take it to the next level. SOAR was, however, the first company to release traditional Native American music on compact disc. He was once quoted as saying “we took Native American music out of the trading posts and into the streets.” SOAR’s motto has always been “Quality titles, not quantity of titles.”
Bee’s radical efforts over a ten year period helped in persuading NARAS to finally create a Native American Folk category in the Grammy’s. Besides numerous gold albums, Bee has received many awards, including the Eagle Spirit in 1994 from the American Film Institute in San Francisco and The Will Sampson Award in 1996 from the First Americans in the Arts. In 1998, Bee received the Producer of the Year Award from the First Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMMY’s). The following year he received the NAMMY’s Lifetime Achievement Award (1999). In 2001, Bee received a Grammy as Producer for Best Native American Music Album in the category’s inaugural year.
Mayor Martin Chavez, of the City of Albuquerque, proclaimed July 27, 2002 to be “Tom Bee Day,” in recognition of Bee’s accomplishments within the music industry as a recording artist, songwriter, record producer and multi-award winner. On February 8, 2003, Bee received the Lifetime Achievement Award from First Americans In The Arts in Beverly Hills, Ca. Most recently, on February 19, 2003, in New York City, Bee received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Four Directions Entertainment. Recent achievements include a 2004 Grammy nomination for his album “Reveal His Glory.” Bee won a Grammy for producing the 2004 Grammy winning record “Flying Free” by Black Eagle.
Tom lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
above: “Sacred Warrior” – song performed and produced by Tom Bee. The video was shot and produced by Video Works ABQ and took first place at the Native American Music Awards.
From Walatowa (Jemez Pueblo), Malcom Yepa’s contribution to New Mexico’s music industry is prodigious and unique. Malcom is an accomplished musician as a singer, drummer and composer both in Native American Pueblo and Powwow styles. Malcom was raised in the traditional ways of his ancestors – fluent in his Native language Towa – and is a paraprofessional educator. Malcom is recipient of the New Mexico Music Commission’s 2018 Platinum Music Award.
