Corridos Pesados CD

Her debut recording features an excellent group of musicians she calls friends including saxophonists Houston Person and Justin Robinson,trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, and vocalist Carla Cook. Drummer Dave Gibson and bassist Eric Lemon round out her stellar rhythm section.

Listen to her arrangement of the classic "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise". Her composition African Village reminds us of the rich, majesty of the African continent. Sultry " Sometimes I Smile" moves into apolyrhythmic funk groove called "If It Isn't So. Then comes finger snapping, hard swinging "Bebobbin" which moves from 3/4 to 4/4 time. The next selection she dedicates to the late, great Betty Carter, with it's hauntingly beautiful melody and lyrics. Locked in Time begins with an elegant piano introduction that sets up the entrance of Cecil Bridgewater's muted trumpet. He states the melody then the groove starts. "One More for the Road" gives us another chance to hear Efacho Okeke's piano style in arelaxed blues.

Awakening power cries out in her arrangement of Ang/Mr. PC. She then soothes us with an easy funk selection reminiscent of Miles Davis called "Let's Go".

Her first album is sure to leave you wanting more and more. Here Efacho Okeke is interviewed by Houston Person. Houston- "Where did you get your name?"Efacho - "My father named me, he's Igbo from Nigeria. My mother is from North Carolina, so I can say that I'm a true African-American. Houston- How do you pronounce your name?Efacho - Ee- fa- choHouston - That's easy enough. You have a New York accent, how long were you in Nigeria?E - Well, I was born in Nigeria and I came to the US when I was one month old.

H - Wow! So have you gone back?E - Yes, I went back 2 years ago to visit and perform solo piano there. It was great, everyone was thrilled!H - So how did you start playing the piano?E - When I was ten I wanted to take dance lessons at the New Muse Cultural Center in Brooklyn, but the class was full so I took piano lessons instead. I'm glad I did. I always wanted to be on stage performing since I was 4 years old. I guess even then my soul knew what I should be doing.

H - What was one of your first musical influences?E - My first piano teacher was Sonelius Smith. He taught me classical piano and then jazz. I owe him a lot.

H - When did you decide to make this a career?E - Well, after graduating from Stanford University with a BS in Biology, I decided to take a year off before entering Cornell Medical School. I registered at the New School for Social Research in New York to further my jazz piano studies.

There, I met and studied with many well-known musicians suchas pianists Junior Mance, Jaki Byard, and George Cables, trumpeters Donald Byrd and Cecil Bridgewater, and saxophonist Donald Harrison. I saw these guys playing and creating music twenty-four/ seven and I thought "I want to do that".

H - So what does you name mean?E - "Efacho" means "This is what I want." or "I have exactly want I want".

H - That' great then we can say this album is "Efacho" - What I want.

Back panel of CdEfacho Okeke with Friends1. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise 2:182.