Gladys "Bobi" Cespedes was born in Cuba and emigrated to the States in 1959. In 1967 she was initiated as a Yoruba-Lucumi priestess. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she maintains a rigorous schedule of concerts, religious rituals, and travels lecturing at the university level.

In the 1980s, she co-founded the 12-piece Conjunto Cespedes, which combined the traditional poetry and nuances of Cuban music with modern horn arrangements and has since become one of this country's most groundbreaking and contemporary Latin bands.

Bobi's work with Mickey Hart's Planet Drum & Bembe Orisha bands has brought her to wider attention in recent years.

In 2003 she recorded her first solo album, Rezos (Prayers) for the Six Degrees label.

Rezos (Six Degress, 2003)

Patakin (2009