Becky Reyes: Blog

Happy Father's Day !

Now about Father's Day. I thought this week I'd introduce you to my dad, Gilberto Jesús Reyes, Gil for short. He just turned 80 on 1/1/09. My dad is largely responsible for who I have become as a musician. Growing up, it was customary for dad to wake up the household by playing music. We'd wake to either mariachi music or jazz and big bands. When the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show, dad called for me to come in the living room. He sat me in his chair, which he had re-positioned right in front of the TV and said in a very serious tone, "Listen, it's very important that you listen to these guys. This is brand new music". And later, he bought me my very first album "Meet the Beatles".

I once asked dad how he, a Mexican child living in a border town in Arizona during the depression, came to like jazz, blues and boogie-woogie. He said that as a child, he loved to read. He was one of the few kids who regularly visited the library and even had his own library card. He always took very good care of the borrowed books, but one night it rained and a book was ruined when the roof leaked. He returned the book, but they took his card away and banned him from the library. No longer could he read about the adventures of the Three Musketeers or the Man in the Iron Mask or the Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas was his favorite author). He said that he cried as he walked home, feeling like the world was caving in on him. Now, at that time in Douglas, Arizona, the town was divided by race. Dad was walking through the part of town where most of the residents were black. He sat on the side of the road near a building and cried some more. He said that as he cried, he watched the men across the street playing poker and little by little became aware of the music. He had never heard that kind of music before and soon approached the men to ask them about the music. They explained to him that it was Boogie Woogie and invited him to listen. He discovered Pine Top Smith and Albert Ammons that afternoon, and as the years passed, found himself exploring the new music more and more. Among his peers and throughout the rest of his life, folks, friends, relatives, even my brothers and I did the best we could to keep him up to date and frequently, he was way ahead of us.

So here's to my dad, Gil. I just want to publicly say thanks for everything that he taught me. For showing me the world through music, and for all the support he's given me through the years.

I love you, dad.

And to the rest of you, I hope that your weekend is wonderful. To those of us who still have our dads around, may you have the opportunity to say, "I love you". To those of us who's dads have passed on, may you also have the opportunity to say, "I love you" and may your heart be comforted. Be well. -B