“Patria y Vida”: the reggaeton revolution in Cuba? We shall see.
The Reggaetonr ap "Patria y Vida" kicks off a movement to change the Cuban government [...]
Latino
Chasing the wild Mexican song and not keeping up.
My fast education in Mexican regional music and where it is going in the USA [...]
Hope for live music in 2021 and Natalie Gelman waves goodbye to 2020
2021. hope and two grat music videos [...]
Music, the Red Button and a virtual Day of the Dead
Governor Alfaro of the Mexican State of Jalisco pushed the “Red Button” Wednesday and there will be less music. The Red Button, or botón rojo, actually has nothing to do [...]
Live music is back, all you need is dinner al fresco
A friend of mine lamented to me online recently that everything is shut down tight in the music capital of the world, LA . She said that all indoor businesses were closed [...]
“Live”: immerse yourself in pure Irene Diaz.
If you have not listened to Irene Diaz’s new EP, Live, released in May, you should. Give it a spin even if you are a fan and know all the [...]
Chicago mariachi and hope for music’s future.
A high school mariachi band based in the Chicago Public School system that has been nominated for a Latin Grammy? Who knew there was mariachi in Chicago, much less in [...]
Nancy Sanchez’ “La Gran Civilización”: a musical tour de forcé unstoppable in any language.
Nancy Sanchez is imparable – unstoppable, because she nunca parable – never stops. This persistence, celebrated in “Imparable” on her latest album La Gran [...]
Dedicated fans fill Hollywood’s Roxy Club for Caloncho
The Roxy is one of Hollywood’s top hotspot clubs and one of my favorite Hollywood Boulevard venues. The club’s semi-circular stage is large, but not too high — [...]
A Mexican house concert: a stunning new artist, great experimental jazz, and no rain.
I love house concerts. But two weeks ago I had to leave a house concert in Ajijic during a tropical rainstorm with no umbrella, so my enthusiasm was…dampened. After [...]
Dynamite cross-culture collaboration: Mestiza and Matt LeGrand in “I’ve Been Watching You”
I love cross-language/culture/border/genre collaborations – it is at the edge of genres that great creativity happens. A perfect example came across my desk this week [...]
The concert got rained out but we took a great tequila tour.
We got rained out of a private Day of the Dead concert that was going to be the subject of this week’s LA LA Land, so I am writing a [...]
Angels in Guadalajara? Getting lost after the Dream Rock Festival
The C3 Rooftop is a small-to-medium sized venue on the roof of a huge -1100 capacity – venue called the C3. It’s located on one of Guadalajara’s busiest [...]
With “De Ayer Para Siempre” Mariachi Los Camperos continues the heartbeat of Mexico.
In their decades-long history of producing some of the best mariachi music in the world, Mariachi Los Camperos has outdone themselves with the new album, De Ayer Para Siempre [...]
The Woodstock 50th Anniversary in a packed Bar El Camaleón with music, beer and bratwurst.
Bethel New York, the actual site of the Woodstock Arts and Music Festival is 4205 kilometers and 50 years from Ajijic Mexico today, but none of that mattered to the [...]
“Angel Baby” by Las Cafeteras is a familiar yet fresh gift to music lovers of any age.
Rosie Mendez Hamlin’s “Angel Baby”, recorded in San Marcos CA by the 15-year-old Latina, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960 and hit Number 5 a month later, [...]
Where the music starts in Mexico.
I went to three gigs this week in Ajijic, Mexico: a rock band at El Barco, a jazz combo at Casa Domenech, and the street at night. I saw where [...]
“Héroe” by Francisca Valenzuela tickles your feet, your mind, your soul.
(Ajijic, Mexico) If you love great music, powerful women, and people who blend art, activism and style into potent tools to change the listen and the world and you don’t [...]
A one-handed trumpeter rocks a Mexican furniture factory on a stormy night.
It was a dark and stormy night – really! It was thundering and flashing lightning and raining buckets when I pulled up in front of the venue to unload my [...]
Its low season in Guadalajara’s mountain towns but not for traditional music
It’s low season in the Guadalajara region of Mexico. The snowbirds don’t arrive from Canada until winter, the temperatures are mild so the denizens of Guadalajara – [...]