Grover and Gabriel are half brothers, sons of one Elzondo SanAngeliquez of Iscalion, Chile. Their bond is evident in their music, if not their physical appearance. Elzondo was a drummer, he was completely deaf from birth and nearly blind since age 3. many, that is almost all musicians in Chile found him difficult to play with.
Elzondo moved to El Paso, Texas to seek treatment for his eyesight. In that he was unsuccessful, but there he met a young nurse named Gabriella Diamond. She was an aspiring pianist and a reluctant singer. Somehow she discovered Elzondo’s love of drumming and they began to play together. When he told her what trouble he had finding musicians to play with in Chile she was confused for she found his sense of rhythm truly hypnotizing. They named their band Bucktooth Cobra and their son Grover.
Elzondo was pleased beyond pleased to learn that not only was Grover not deaf, but had exceptional hearing. In addition, he had a natural love of music! He began playing clarinet at 3 ½ and for his fourth birthday he was given a tenor saxophone and full membership in Bucktooth Cobra. Of course they were a hit! El Paso loved them!
Grover’s musical ear expanded and his lungs grew stronger and by age 7, Gabriella decided it was a good time to tour. They played east through Texas, were well-received in Biloxi, Miami and Jacksonville, up the coast until they got to upstate New York where Gabriella’s half-sister Pira lived.
They stayed here for a short time, in good spirits. They left suddenly with Pira. She had become pregnant with Elzondo’s child in order to escape her engagement to marry an awful but wealthy man. Gabriella was not jealous, in fact, Pira joined the band as bassist. She didn’t have much musical experience, but had “good instincts and strong hands.”
Back in El Paso, things were mostly back to normal, gigging around town, Texas and New Mexico until the baby was born. Gabriel was born in the artists’ lounge of Salvitore’s, one of their favorite places to play. A huge cheer could be heard as the announcement was made from the stage. The house was bombarded with gifts blessings and tiny instruments from well-wishers. Little Gabriel, from day one, seemed even more suited to the life of a musician than Grover had been! He tried kazoos, shakers, xylophones and tambourines but liked his little electric keyboard the most.
At two years, he was actually rather coordinated, certainly exceptional for a two year old. Like his brother, Gabriel joined Bucktooth at age four, in charge of ‘special sounds’. Sadly, Pira became ill and died soon after. Gabriel took over on bass, playing low sounds on his keyboards.
Very sad, he began spending as much time with his brother as he could. He asked for, and received a tenor saxophone for his 5th birthday. At 6, he was named “funkiest kindergartner” by a regional music magazine. Still playing keyboard bass in the family’s band, he and his brother began an exploratory saxophone duo.
When his brother realized he was in a 2nd band with Gabriel, he dubbed it the SanAngeliquez brothers, or alternately, the Brothers SanAngeliquez.
Haunting EBM from Stephen Hindman of The Golden Filter that moves from atmospheric minimalism to throbbing dance numbers. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 13, 2020