I wasn’t expecting much other than a good time. It was The Hollywood Cemetery’s annual Dia De Los Muertos celebration. I wanted to check out the altars, have some Champurrado, a shot of tequila and some Pan De Muerto. As I walked in the cemetery I soon found out that two of the best Son Jarocho groups were going to perform that evening. Son De Madera and Los Cojolites, both from Vera Cruz, Mexico, are the Beatles and The Rolling Stones or the Biggie and Tupac of Son Jarocho. Trouble was that they going to perform on two different stages and the exact same time. Oh man, what to do?


Son Jarocho is traditional Mexican music that fuses indigenous, Spanish and African styles of music. It originated in the port towns of Vera Cruz, a region of Mexico located off the Gulf of Mexico. The instruments that are used for Son Jarocho are also used in other Mexican music with the addition of various percussion instruments with roots in African and Spanish/Moorish culture. It is music based on improvisation, both musically and lyrically. Imagine a rapper free styling verses while improvising on the guitar.


I had seen Los Cojolites earlier this year at Self-Help Graphics in East L.A. Their short set was absolutely jaw dropping. However, in the sprit of community, Los Cojolites relinquished the stage to other performers who were not up to par with the group and I ended up leaving early. Son De Madera was one of those groups I always wanted to see but never got around to. Because of that, the battle of the dueling stages was won by the stage with Son De Madera on it. Son De Madera are traditionalists to a point. One of the Requintos (An acoustic guitar used for playing the lead guitar parts in Son Jarocho music) is put through an amp with effects pedals, which creates a washy, dream-like sound. Also included in the group is a stand-up baby bass, complements of East L.A. native Juan Perez and Zapateado supplied by the beautiful Rubí del Carmen Oseguera. The minute they played their first note I was lost in their world of improvisations and melodies. It had the earthiness of the Mexican cultured mixed with the seduction of the Moorish culture. None of that was lost, even with Son De Madera modern take of their traditional sound.

Maneja Beto comes into town two or three times a year with little fanfare and that’s too bad. They are the best Mexican rock band out on the scene right now that isn't actually from Mexico. Hailing from Austin, TX, Maneja Beto continues on a path that bands from Mexico no longer follow. Maneja incorporate traditional Mexican musical influences with their Anglo and Roc N' Español influences. At their performance at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, Maneja Beto tore threw an hour and half set that featured most of the songs from their brilliant release, Accidentes De Longitud Y Latitud. One of the things that make Maneja unique is that two of the band member’s play multiple instruments. Bobby Garza doubles on percussion and keyboards and shares vocal duties with Alex Chavez. Chavez plays keys and a whole array of guitars (electric as well as traditional Mexican instruments such as the Jarana and the Requinto)
Much like Café Tacvba, Maneja Beto has great songs and can mix all their influences together and still retain their own sound. But unlike Café Tacvba, Maneja does not have an engaging front person, which perhaps is the reason their rise to popularity has been much slower.

There is a Mexican saying “Traen la cara de nopal” which roughly translates to,  “You have the face of a cactus." It is what some Mexicans say to each other when one forgets where they came from. It’s something one can’t shake no matter how much you are educated, how much money you earn, where you move to or how much one assimilates into Anglo culture. In the end, you have to look in the mirror and see yourself, "la cara del nopal," the face of a Mexican.

The thing I like about Maneja Beto, with all their painted nails and their obvious love of bands like Joy Division and The Smiths is they never try to hide their “caras del nopal.”  I think that many bands from Mexico right now could learn from them.

Writer's note: The next twenty blogs will deal with the best of 2007. The first 10 will highlight the best shows that I had a chance to witness during this year. The second ten will highlight my favorite releases of this year. Nothing will be listed in order, as I enjoyed every minute of the shows and recordings that I can’t possibly pick a number one.


Some of the best rock bands in the last fifteen years have come from Latin America. Throughout those years, Café Tacvba has become one of the most important voices not only in Latin Rock but also in all of rock music today. At their show at the Gibson, Café Tacvba seamlessly flowed back and forth from their early Roc ñ Espanòl material into their recent cerebral songs without dating the older songs or trivializing the new ones. The songs they played from their brilliant new album, Si No, captivated the audience as much as the hits. Their show was part Beach Boys, part b-boy, part Electronica, part classic rock and part indie rock, all at it’s finest.

Café Tacvba mixed the older hits (Ingrata, Eres, Las Flores, Maria) with the best songs from the new album (El Outsider, 53100, and the new wavy Volver A Comenzar) The band as a whole was entertaining and played flawless. Lead vocalist Ruben Albarran is everything you want from a front person. He charismatic, has a unique voice, lots of energy yet never takes the spotlight away from the rest of the group. The rest of the band is solid, mixing live instruments with sequenced beats. Bassist Enrique “Quique” Rangel is one of those bass players that can carry a band melodically, much like John Entwistle did for The Who or Mike Mills does with R.E.M.

Café Tacvba ended their show with one of my favorite covers any band has done, a version of Leo Dan’s Como Te Extraño Mi Amor. This was the song that many years ago sold me on the band and started me on a journey discovering older pop songs by great Spanish language artists that I never heard of growing up in the U.S.

This Thanksgiving I went to Las Vegas to visit my parents. They are now retired and living with the vast number of seniors who have ventured to the desert for the cheap housing, warmer weather and of course, the gambling. There is nothing Vegas likes more than getting those social security checks deposited straight into a slot machine. Coincidently my annual visit has fallen on the Thanksgiving holiday. In fact, I don’t like the holiday. First off, to me, celebrating Thanksgiving is to celebrate the genocide of all the indigenous people of the Americas and much like Columbus Day, it is one of my most loathed holidays. Still, what are you going to tell your parents when they invite you to their home for Thanksgiving dinner? “No Mom, no Dad, I refuse to celebrate with you because this holiday celebrates the rape, murder and the stealing of the land of indigenous people like you and me?” However, my ideals are often compromised by the love of my parents. They will win every time.



I remember when they were looking to buy the house they live in now a couple of years back. I drove with my mother to Vegas to check out the house. I remember walking into the place and thinking how “faaabulous” the house was. The owners weren’t there, but because of the numerous naked Greco-Roman statues, posters of Broadway musicals and the abundance of I Love Lucy show memorabilia, I had concluded that the house belonged to an older gay couple. Then there was the backyard. Rome suddenly turned into Martin Denny’s Quiet Village, complete with faux Polynesian totem poles, tropical plants and Tiki torches. My mother, on the other hand, was clueless.



After a quick look through the house, I asked my mother,

“ Are the owners of the house an older gay couple?”
She looked at me like I was crazy.
“No” she replied. “I met the husband the first time I came to see the house. He said he had a partner.”
I looked at her like, “And…”
She continued. “Yeah, and he had a cute dog too.”
“What kind of dog was it” I had to ask.
“A white poodle”

There were so many to pick from so I narrowed it down to three.

Mexican-American (from Next Movie)
Favorite line: "Mexican Americans are named named Chata and Chela and Chema and have a son and law named Jeff..."


Me And My Old Lady (from Things Are Tough All Over)

This is one that slipped my mind for a minute. The song has that country-era Freddy Fender feel to it.
Favorite line: "Sometimes people space us out, so we make like a bread truck and haul buns out of there"



Earache My Eye (From Up In Smoke)

I was watching this recently and noticed that one of the horn players is none other then my mentor Ruben Guevara of Ruben and The Jets fame. A few weeks back I got see Ruben perform with members of the band Ollin at The Knitting Factory. They did a version of "Con Safos", Ruben's underground hit from the early 80's.
Favorite Line: "The basketball coach he just kicked me off the team, for wearing  high heeled sneakers and acting like a qquuueennnn!!!!"