Armando Joseph Vazquez Jr. was just 46 when he quietly passed away in his sleep last week.
And now we remember the man and the musician that made such a great impact on Bakersfield and Kern County.
For a man that called Bakersfield home, music was always just part of his life.
And his good friend Marciano Flores knew him back then when the two were in high school, together.
“Immediately you could see he was making his impact on band and orchestra. He enjoyed it, he enjoyed talking about it,” said Flores.
But for Joe music was where he had found his calling.
He and Matt Munoz met at Bakersfield College and together started the band: Mento Buru.
“We just kind of started sitting in with different bands to see if this was going to work. And eventually we linked up with a few musicians and then 25 years later and you know saying goodbye to my friend who was there from the very beginning,” said Munoz.
As co-founders of Mento Buru, Munoz says the two took on opposite roles in the band but it worked.
“Where I was the guy...I'm gonna be the performer, I'm gonna be the singer, I'm gonna be the sax player. Joe was the one who brought the science of music into what we were doing,” said Munoz.
And for many more years more that formula worked, another reason why saying goodbye to their best friend and their brother is so hard.
“When you talk about a friend who was loyal through thick and thin, and just that big heart, loving, always went out of his way if you needed him, was always there in any hour of the night. You know you could call Joe,” said Munoz.
“It's gonna be tough because that's when I'm really going to have to come to terms with the fact that he's gone. But I don't think it's going to be as tough when you see the impact he had on so many people,” said Flores.
A reality for friends, family and even fans like Carlos Martinez and Johnny Fuentes say still hasn't quite sunk in.
“It's saddening, disappointing especially since he was so young. It's kind of blown me away, I'm kind of speechless,” said Martinez.
“I just really appreciate that they've stayed here and they probably could of did something bigger but I think it's pretty cool that they stayed here you know and always been a strong part of our community,” said Fuentes.
And coming up at the end of this month Mento Buru will have a free concert at the marketplace, marking a special tribute for their brother Joe.
