A music and dance group from the Pueblo of Jemez has partnered with a production music company in an effort to bring Indigenous music to a worldwide audience. The artistic endeavors of the music group Cloud Eagle is now available through ALIBI Music, which makes music available to license for television, film, commercials and other multimedia formats.
Cloud Eagle is from the Pueblo of Jemez and is composed of Lawrence Toya, his two sons Glendon and Delvin as well as Glendon’s nephew Riley. Lawrence’s wife Ruby, the matriarch of the Toya family, is Zuni, so the family group has connections to both pueblos. Glendon Toya says the group evolved from a project started in the early 1980s.
At that time, Glendon says, “Our singing group went by the name Seasonal Dance Group. It wasn’t until 2014 that we released our first album of traditional pueblo music titled Cloud Eagle after a song on the album composed by our father, Lawrence Toya.”
Toya says that when Native music is incorporated into modern forms of media like film and television, Cloud Eagle feels a sense of pride regardless of which Indigenous community the music comes from. He says, “It gives us hope that the generations will carry on our songs and languages.”
ALIBI Music is a production music library with more than 15,000 songs recorded by more than 400 artists from 21 countries. The company was founded by Jonathan Parks in 2011, but it was Jonathan’s father Jeff who made the collaboration with Cloud Eagle happen. It happened by chance while Parks was visiting pueblos throughout New Mexico searching for visual artists to perform at a Philadelphia music festival.
“We happened upon the Jemez Pueblo and they had a visitor center that was just about to close by the time we got there, but it had a beautiful burro painted on the wall,” Parks says. “I asked who painted it and they said the gentleman’s name was John Toya.”
It was the beginning of a long friendship. Parks says they bonded over art, music and Philadelphia Eagles fandom.
Parks says that although ALIBI Music aims to help Indigenous artists showcase their work and tell their stories through music, they are mindful of the fact that music is sacred to many of the communities that created it.
“We did not want to get music that is religiously oriented. In other words, historic music that might be celebrated in the kiva or might be part of the religious heritage of the community because once the music comes into ALIBI, it’s available worldwide,” Parks says. “It could be used for a toothpaste commercial.”
e are more so humbled by this opportunity to have our music out on these platforms to inspire and heal all walks of life. Our only expectation is to keep the music coming,” Glendon says. “We are currently in the works to create more music with a contemporary instrumental flare… melodies of peace, joy and happiness.”