Oral History:
The
SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival is always fun and well attended
whenever Oral and the boys perform and get everyone moving to a mixture
of world music and reggae. On one of these occasions a writer for “All
About Jazz” Mark Sabbatini wrote:
"Oral Fuentes is a larger
funk/reggae collaboration that, unlike Friday's shows, is heavy on
fresh material and interactive jams. It's one of the few times all week
I see a decent number of people dancing and the only performance I
witness that gets calls for an encore."
It all started in the
late ‘80s in his home country of Belize. Oral was involved with a
multicultural band 'Caribbean Jam', playing for many local and
countrywide events. ‘Caribbean Jam’ was instrumental in changing the
face of gospel music in Belize by adding their own Belizean cultural
songs and rhythm. For this unique sound Oral and the Band were awarded
the “Best Roots Cultural Band”.
Oral Fuentes was influenced at
an early age by Belizean musician Lord Rhaburn (member of Reggae Hall
of fame), and later on by Pen Cayetano, the father of Punta Rock.
Hearing Pen Cayetano’s Turtle Shell Band in the ‘80s in Dangriga -the
home of the Garinagu Punta Rock, a worldwide sensation- Oral went on to
write “Me Rock” and “A-Miche, Miche-nary”. Both of these songs and
others have since been recorded by various artists and sang in churches
and youth-camps throughout the world. Since then Oral has traveled
intensively to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Surinam, Guyana, USA, and
the Caribbean.
Commencing his studies at the Academy of
Performing Arts in Cambridge, Ontario in 1989, Oral traveled and wrote
songs with 'The Warriors' rock band and 'Soul'd Out' a soul/blues
band, both from the Academy. Their route took them many times to
perform in New York and Nashville. Since moving to Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan in 1992, Oral teams up with musicians from Saskatoon,
playing the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, Calgary International
Reggae Festival, Southern Saskatchewan Solstice Festival, Ness Creek Music Festival, as well as
many other festivals, night clubs and cultural shows. Oral has opened for Maceo Parker (
James Brown Band), Divine Brown, Ivana Santilli, Jason Wilson, African
Guitar Summit, and Caraballo from Winnipeg, to name a few.
With
his debut album “Oral Culture”, Oral captures that sunny feeling that
we all need and shares a thread of peace and love throughout the
album. His video “ Whey Natty Dey” has also hit number one for over
two weeks in Belize in late 2008, on Plus Television.
Oral
Fuentes musical styles include Reggae, Soca, Punta-Rock and Brukdown
(both musical styles from Belize) with other Caribbean and Latin
Rhythms. Oral writes and performs all original material.
