Gabe Rosales
Encyclopedia
Gabe Rosales is a guitar
ist, singer
, bass
ist rap
per, and producer from San Juan Capistrano, California
. Rosales has worked in many genres of music, such as Latin music (most notably flamenco
and Cuban music), rock
, jazz
, drum and bass
, fusion
, funk
, hip hop
, jazz rap
, and death metal
. His album, Vital Nonsense, was released on February 10, 2009. Rosales has played with a variety of artists, including Jennifer Lopez
, Fat Joe
, Christina Milian
, and George Lynch
.
, N.W.A, and DJ Jazzy Jeff
, as well as Mexican folk music his parents played and listened to. Rosales also began drawing, which started his interest with art.
Rosales' parents divorced in 1986 when he was 12 and this split his family. He moved to northern California with his mother after she got accepted into a college, leaving his father in Southern California.
At age 13, Rosales developed a fascination with the occult, and bought books by Aleister Crowley
and Anton La Vey. Rosales' predominant musical interest was death metal
as he began performing with a band just 3 months after he picked up bass as a vocalist and instrumentalist. He utilized his dark Poe influenced poetry as the catalyst for his lyrics.
, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
, John Coltrane
, Cameo
, Zapp
, and Art Tatum
. During high school, Rosales starred in many theatre productions, played in seven different bands, and displayed his art at a local art school. He stopped his occult practices, but continued to be subtly influenced by it in his drawings. A friendship began with producer and guitarist Paul Pesco, who introduced him to the Zen Guitar Book, sparking Rosales's interest with Quantum Physics and Eastern thought.
's album Smoke This, and consumed excessive amounts of alcohol while on tour. Because of this, Rosales went on a spiritual search, and attended a 10 day Buddhist Vipassana meditation course. After his return, he began playing again and landed gigs with Christina Milian
, Jennifer Lopez
, and Prashant Aswani. Not until after few jail stints, small time drug dealing, and health problems did Gabe finally reach his lowest point which forced him to make a crucial decision in his life. He took a vow to soberness in 07, resisting both drugs and alcohol and began a new journey as an activist, dedicated teacher, student and revolutionary. His life experiences inspired him to release his 1st solo album where he called upon many high profile influential musicians and artists he has worked with over time to contribute.
In 09 Gabe became a proud member of Afrika Bambaataa
's Universal Zulu Nation
, the US West Coast
general of the Anti Injustice Movement, a Guerrilla Republik soldier and a political enthusiast. His music was included on the Anti Injustice Movements Lyrical Warfare mixtape in 2010.
In early 2010 Gabe met up with another guitar hero, multi-grammy award winning Andy Summers
, the guitarist of the legendary band The Police
. He recorded with Summers for an album and continues playing with him on various projects.
Rosales is also working on the next original album with the solidified incarnation of the band that was based from his 1st solo album.
, Divine Styler
, Paul Pesco, and Prashant Aswani. The album was produced by Pesco, Rosales, and Riz Story, and was recorded in various studios in the Orange County
area. The album discusses political ideology, race, religion
, jail life and redemption, and various aspects of Rosales's life.
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, bass
Bass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
ist rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
per, and producer from San Juan Capistrano, California
San Juan Capistrano, California
San Juan Capistrano is a city in southern Orange County, California, located approximately southeast of Downtown Santa Ana. The current OMB metropolitan designation for San Juan Capistrano and the Orange County Area is “Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA.” The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census,...
. Rosales has worked in many genres of music, such as Latin music (most notably flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
and Cuban music), rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
, fusion
Fusion Music
Fusion Music is a sub genre of Reggaeton. Calle 13 helped introduce this genre, and are the most famous artists to sing it. It's also known as Alternative Reggaeton. Danny Fornaris is the most famous producer in this sub-genre, known as its Luny Tunes...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, jazz rap
Jazz rap
Jazz rap is a sub-genre of hip hop which incorporates jazz influences, developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are often based on political consciousness, Afrocentricity, and general positivism...
, and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
. His album, Vital Nonsense, was released on February 10, 2009. Rosales has played with a variety of artists, including Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
, Fat Joe
Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
, Christina Milian
Christina Milian
Christine Flores , better known by her stage name Christina Milian , is an American singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, and model....
, and George Lynch
George Lynch (musician)
George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
.
Early Life
Born in 1978 in Southern California to Mexican parents, Rosales studied began studying music at age 10, originally playing the piano, and later on switching to guitar and bass in his early teens, and was influenced early by groups such as Faith No MoreFaith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
, N.W.A, and DJ Jazzy Jeff
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jeffrey Allen Townes , also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff or simply Jazz, is an American hip hop, R&B record producer, turntablist and actor. He is best known for his early career with Will Smith as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince...
, as well as Mexican folk music his parents played and listened to. Rosales also began drawing, which started his interest with art.
Rosales' parents divorced in 1986 when he was 12 and this split his family. He moved to northern California with his mother after she got accepted into a college, leaving his father in Southern California.
At age 13, Rosales developed a fascination with the occult, and bought books by Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
and Anton La Vey. Rosales' predominant musical interest was death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
as he began performing with a band just 3 months after he picked up bass as a vocalist and instrumentalist. He utilized his dark Poe influenced poetry as the catalyst for his lyrics.
Late Teens
Eventually conflicts and his obsession with the occult wore on his mother and she sent him to move in with his father. During his first summer back in Southern California, he practiced from 12 to 16 hours a day, and became interested in bands such as Weather ReportWeather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Cameo
Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...
, Zapp
Zapp (band)
Zapp is a soul and funk band formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Bobby Glover and Gregory Jackson [Cincinnati Ohio Funk Keyboardist]...
, and Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
. During high school, Rosales starred in many theatre productions, played in seven different bands, and displayed his art at a local art school. He stopped his occult practices, but continued to be subtly influenced by it in his drawings. A friendship began with producer and guitarist Paul Pesco, who introduced him to the Zen Guitar Book, sparking Rosales's interest with Quantum Physics and Eastern thought.
Professional Career
In 1999 at the age of 19, Gabe played on George LynchGeorge Lynch (musician)
George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
's album Smoke This, and consumed excessive amounts of alcohol while on tour. Because of this, Rosales went on a spiritual search, and attended a 10 day Buddhist Vipassana meditation course. After his return, he began playing again and landed gigs with Christina Milian
Christina Milian
Christine Flores , better known by her stage name Christina Milian , is an American singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, and model....
, Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
, and Prashant Aswani. Not until after few jail stints, small time drug dealing, and health problems did Gabe finally reach his lowest point which forced him to make a crucial decision in his life. He took a vow to soberness in 07, resisting both drugs and alcohol and began a new journey as an activist, dedicated teacher, student and revolutionary. His life experiences inspired him to release his 1st solo album where he called upon many high profile influential musicians and artists he has worked with over time to contribute.
In 09 Gabe became a proud member of Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
's Universal Zulu Nation
Universal Zulu Nation
|rightThe Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed and headed by hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Originally known simply as the Organization, it arose in the 1970s as reformed New York City gang members began to organize cultural events for youths, combining local...
, the US West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
general of the Anti Injustice Movement, a Guerrilla Republik soldier and a political enthusiast. His music was included on the Anti Injustice Movements Lyrical Warfare mixtape in 2010.
In early 2010 Gabe met up with another guitar hero, multi-grammy award winning Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
, the guitarist of the legendary band The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
. He recorded with Summers for an album and continues playing with him on various projects.
Rosales is also working on the next original album with the solidified incarnation of the band that was based from his 1st solo album.
Vital Nonsense
Rosales's Vital Nonsense features songs from nearly every one of the genres that he has played in. The album featured musicians such as Dave WecklDave Weckl
Dave Weckl is a highly acclaimed jazz fusion drummer. Weckl attended Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, MO and graduated in 1978. He majored in jazz studies at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut...
, Divine Styler
Divine Styler
Divine Styler is an alternative hip hop artist from Brooklyn, New York.-History:He first emerged as part of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate. His first LP, Word Power, was hailed by critics and fans, but was not a commercial success. His second album, the wildly experimental Spiral Walls Containing Autumns...
, Paul Pesco, and Prashant Aswani. The album was produced by Pesco, Rosales, and Riz Story, and was recorded in various studios in the Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
area. The album discusses political ideology, race, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, jail life and redemption, and various aspects of Rosales's life.
Trivia
- Rosales is endorsed by guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
company ESP GuitarsESP Guitars, located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
. - He is a member of the international secular hip-hop activist movement, The Anti-Injustice Movement (aka The AIM).