Paul Cebar is an American songwriter, singer, guitarist and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who plays African, Latin American and Caribbean music. He has released four albums and an EP with his band, Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, which have received airplay from adult album alternative stations across the US, album with all his bands, including the latest incarnation Paul Cebar and Tomorrow Sound, and a solo album. In 2016 he was touring with two other singer-songwriters, Peter Mulvey and Willy Porter as Peter, Paul, and Willy as well as doing dates with two of his past bands including the revived R&B Cadets.
Early life
Cebar recounts his musical journey beginning as an eleven-year-old back in the 1960s when he attended Milwaukee's Lakefront Festival of the Arts where he saw the Wild Magnolias from New Orleans as well as drummer Babatunde Olatunji and fell in love with the style and sound. Cebar graduated from Pius XI High School in Milwaukee and began performing in coffeehouses on the local folk scene in the mid-1970s. He first fell in love with New Orleans' music scene on a roadtrip in 1977 and has continued to return every year to the Jazz & Heritage Festival. His repertoire consisted in large part of rhythm and blues and jump blues songs, played solo on his guitar. He attended New College in Sarasota, Florida. Afterwards, he played in New York City while working with the R&B Cadets in Milwaukee.
The R&B Cadets
Throughout the early 1980s, Cebar was a member of a rock and R&B combo, The R&B Cadets, with Jon Sieger, Mike Sieger, Robyn Pluer, Bob Jennings, Juli Wood and Bob Schneider. The band played Sieger's compositions, with obscure songs from the mid-20th century that Cebar had unearthed. The R&B Cadets released an album entitled Top Happy in 1986, and a 7-inch 33 entitled Get a Move On in 1981, including the song "Hook, Line, and Sinker", "One Is Green", "Headin' for the Poor House" and "Down by the River". During this period, Cebar and Claudia Schmidt released a 7-inch 45 "The Outskirts Of You" b/w "Baby, It's Cold Outside".
Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans
Parallel to his work with the R&B Cadets, Cebar had his own group, Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans. The group played many R&B, jazz,and bebop songs, by Louis Jordan, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and others. The members were Cebar, Robin Pluer, Rip Tenor and Alan Anderson. They were often joined by the percussionist Guy Hoffman. After the Cadets disbanded in 1986 Cebar reconstituted the group, which then was made up of Cebar, Pluer, Juli Wood, Anderson, Tenor and Randy Baugher. The band explored African, Latin American and Caribbean sounds in a rhythm and blues context. The band gradually expanded into a unique R&B/Worldbeat fusion in the late 80s with horn section, keyboard & accordion, lead guitar/lap steel and continuing Milwaukeeans. Popular in Chicago and Minneapolis & their hometown. The album best documenting this era is That Unhinged Thing. Reggie Bordeaux, was taught drums by his father from an early age. He had much experience when he met Cebar; he had already performed with Prince as the lead drummer. His talent, combined with his performing experience, made him a perfect fit for Cebar's sound. Bordeaux's gospel biased drumming style brought a unique element to Cebar's already distinctive music. Garrison Keillor commented to Cebar after the band's performance on his show, A Prairie Home Companion, "Mr. Reggie Bordeaux... You got a great percussion section there mister." Patrick Patterson was one of the longest acting members of Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans, playing electric bass & singing harmony. Some alumni of the band are: saxophone: Tony Jarvis, Greg Tardy, Paul Scher guitar: Peter Roller, Rob Gjersoe, Terry Vittone bass guitar: Mike Kachou, Ethan Bender, Patrick Patterson percussion: Michael Walls, Romero Beverly
Paul Cebar & Tomorrow Sound
The latest line-up includes the former R&B Cadet Bob Jennings, Mike Fredrickson, Reggie Bordeaux and McKinley "Mac" Perkins. While earlier incarnations of the band were more pop-oriented, the band is heavily into African, Latin, Caribbean, reggae, zydeco, R&B and soul styles. The band continues to perform regularly and tours the US.
Cebar began guesting on local musician Steve Cohen's show on WMSE radio in Milwaukee in the early 1980s. At the suggestion of another DJ there, he applied for, and received his own show, which he has hosted since 1985. The show runs on Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. - noon. In the late 1980s, he also began hosting a show on Sunday afternoons on WYMS in Milwaukee, which ran until the station changed its format in 2002.
