In Yoruba culture, Bakuleye is a magic wand that awakes a deity living under the earth. As the creator and leader, Pedro Pablo Vargas says, Bakuleye is the awakening of new ideas. Perez Vargas was born in Santiago de Cuba on June 29, 1962 and is a decendent of the famous Cuban master Miguel Matamoros. His father, guitarist and composer Fernando Perez Griñan along with his grandfather Pastor Vargas Matamoros, were founders of the Trova Santiaguera. During his youth, Pedro Pablo had many musical influences such as the Nueva Trova, merengue, son montuno and guaracha. He was familiar with some of the best Cuban bands and their leaders including NG LA Banda and Jose Luis Cortes, Oriente Lopez and Afrocuba, and Juan Formell and Los Van Van. In his first musical stints, Pedro Pablo worked as a sound engineer for the Raul Gomez and Mayra Caridad Valdez orchestras. Later, without leaving his work as an engineer, Miriam Bayard and Habanason offered him the opportunity to dance in their show and Hector Treyes asked him to play percussion in his group. He toured with these groups to Peru, English Guyana, Central America, Mexico, Spain, and France. Pedro Pablo has a special virtue, a sort of hidden talent as a composer of his own songs. Two of his songs have been recorded by other groups: La Mala Hierba by Tamayoy Tu Salsa AM and El Panadero by the French band Sabroson. When he was visiting Toulouse, France, a distinguished French man heard his songs and he was so impressed that he wonde...