MEET THE DELEON BROTHERS BAND
2014 is a legacy benchmark year of
celebration and renewal for the DeLeon
family. As we prepare to celebrate and share
our history, music tradition and the DeLeon
family's story with family, friends, and our
community; we are thankful. We view the
legacy as a representation of two things we
value highly ... Familia and Cultura. Thank
you for allowing us to share the story with
you. We hope that family and friends, will
join us on the journey leading to the "Legacy
- Celebrating 70 Years" event in September.
The journey ... in the late 40's going forward to the mid 80's lived a musician named Esequiel DeLeon, Sr.
This was an unassuming - nondescript trumpet player that would become the Patriarch to a clan and
live to share and instill his passion for music and his value for familia with many. Over time, these two
elements would be fused, shared, and nurtured to produce a seven decade long legacy and the Patriarch
would be blessed to see much of it unfold before being called home; leaving the vision in the care of his
sons and descendants.
The trumpet player is blowing his horn, the story continues, and we move to circa 1958 - 1959. The
sound was Doo Wop and there were crooners on street corners throughout United States communities
and neighborhoods. Denver, Colorado was no exception. It was a time when names of groups being
played on the radio included the Del Vikings, the Chantels, the Coasters, and a gifted young man by the
name of Ritchie Valens fell in love with Rock-N-Roll and was hearing guitar chords that nobody else
could hear and writing music in his head. One of the DeLeon sons that would follow in the trumpet
players footsteps was his namesake; Esequiel "Zeke" DeLeon, Jr. In the late 50's thru early 60's "Zeke"
had already begun his musical journey singing Doo Wop acapella with a Denver group called the "Del
Rays." But there were others. All told the sons of the DeLeon Patriarch included Esequiel, Victor, Phillip,
Robert, and Anthony AKA Zeke, Vic, Phil, Bobby, and Tony. Meet the DeLeon Brothers!
The early 70's found Zeke DeLeon, Jr. fast becoming a local celebrity while Victor and Phil, now in their
early 20's, were performing as a duet and a local Chicano version of the Righteous Brothers. Then focus
and organization began to take shape and the Brothers formed a band called the Creative Shades while
circa '73 - '74 Brother Zeke starts a bonfire with his band called Brass Monkey. In those years Denver
was ripe with the tradition of having many neighborhood nightclubs. For Chicanos of that era going back
to 1968, we remember them well - after hours at the Cotton Club, sneaking in the back door at the
Bowl, the Cowboy, the Mecca, Aloha Beach, the Knight Club, a beloved woman and her namesake AKA
"Rachel's", and many more. Now during this evolution the music industry underwent many changes.
After the British invasion, a new kind of Rock and Roll began to take shape that may be better described
as Rock-N-Soul and emerged, over time, side-by-side with Latin Soul, East Bay Grease, and the Latin Rock
and Latin Soul sounds of Santana, Thee Midniters, MALO, the great Bobby Espinosa and El Chicano.
Denver's Latin Bands picked up the move and flow and could be heard in night clubs across Denver
doing their own renditions of Suavecito, Nena, Oye Como Va, You're Still A Young Man, and many
others. This was a wonderful time in music and ironically, it was also a time when these new sounds
were forming the foundation for what would later become known as "Old School." In Denver, the
DeLeons were disciplined to this genre of music; performing ballads and renditions of classics that had
“Cultura" written all over them. Beside the unfolding musical journey, the DeLeon Brothers also
remained true to the family tradition that had been fused with the music legacy. Their lives evolved,
marriages took place, children came, and inevitably as it is in every family and each journey, life's
challenges and tribulations also visited them to varying degrees and in different ways. However, at the
end of the day in the events that unfold during a long journey, what counts in sharing the story of a
legacy has to do more with the manifestation and use of gifts and how those that used them brought joy
and richness to the lives of others. This is the story.
By the early 1980's, the trumpet player’s family legacy had grown to encompass a very large family
circle. Family business became prominent and began to surpass the Brother's collective music focus; but
the best was yet to come and the trumpet player would live to see his vision and aspirations come full
circle to become a reality. By the mid 80's the DeLeon Brothers hit a groove and the band that was to
provide the next level breakthrough was called "Solid Ground." Armed with focus, a sense of mission,
and original material, Solid Ground went into the studio to record and they produced a 45 RPM vinyl
record that contained the song "Children of the Rainbow." The record was received in the Denver
community with love and appreciation. It eventually sold 5,000 copies and became the DeLeon Brothers
flagship song as well as the Denver Westside community anthem. The recording is rich in its message
about children and was befitting the sentiment and vision of the trumpet players family mindset and
family legacy. It was also rich in talent with the harmonies typical of the now familiar voices of the
Brothers; the smooth vocals of Bobby and Phillip with the Brothers providing the back drop and the
unmistakable voice of Brother Zeke DeLeon.
Later Victor would share a story about how Children of the Rainbow traveled. "I have no idea how it
happened, shares Victor, but a guy came from California and recognized the song. He shared that he
had already heard it in a jukebox somewhere in East LA. Go figure." As this level of the DeLeon
Brother's journey unfolded, the Patriarch watched and listened. He looked around and realized that his
vision had unfolded before his eyes over time. He realized that through his own pursuits and
accomplishments in music and in life, as well as those of his off spring, a legacy had been established. He
saw the realization of a dream that was birthed through gifts and a vision ... and then he went home.
As the 90's arrived, artists across the world would see a major transition in the music industry. Major
record labels watched as smaller independent labels began to take over and redefine the industry. Enter
Hip Hop and Rap music ... the next generation of the American music evolution that would change
music, advance the progress of independent labels, and impact the thinking and status quo of youth and
communities across the United States and across the world. Hip Hop and Rap has enjoyed a 20-year run
and has produced, and gone through, many changes. During this time, R&B/Funk music and the true
gifted R&B traditionalists took a temporary back seat in main stream music and the DeLeons began to
explore a new age and maturity level. They are now grandparents. The maturity translates to reflection
and a focus on writing and performing for family and community members.
Denver then went to Techno and Denver's night club focus was now centered at venues called La Rumba
and the Church as well as so called upscale clubs such as Cool River. Where was that sound of music?
Was it lost? No, never happen. What was happening was a synergy and convergence of generations
unfolding. Cultura was alive and well. For the Gente, familia was still the foundation and a new
generation was knocking at the door waiting to step up and see what this thing that they inherited from
their parents called Old School was all about. They were coming ... and the song remained the same.
The passion of that trumpet player, those like him, and those that followed him would never die. As
Brother Vic describes the underlying theme of this journey, "Life is the Song and Love is the Music."
In 2013, the Patriarch would be joined by his namesake as a Denver local music icon, Mr. Esequiel
“Zeke” DeLeon is also called home. In September, another benchmark will be reached in the journey of
the Patriarch's legacy. And though the trumpet player and his namesake have gone home, they will
watch as the legacy goes forward and as the DeLeon Brothers carry the torch, educate and nurture the
familia, and release a recording project almost a decade in the making … and the legacy continues