On Thursday July 12th I will be DJ an opening set for a great double at The Conga Room in Downtown L.A. with Novalima & Jungle Fire.

For the last several years, the collective of Peruvian, European and Asian musicians have released quality Afro-Latin electro music that is often imitated but never matched. Novalima takes what folkloric Afro-Peruvian artists such as Peru Negro and Susana Baca have done previously. Yet with each release, Novalima delves deeper in their Afro-Peruvian roots and still remains relevant in the clubs. With a live band that includes both sequenced beats and live masters of Afro-Peruvian percussion, this show should be a soulful evening of dance and song. Opening the show is L.A.’s own Jungle Fire, putting the funk back into Latin Funk. The members of Jungle Fire as individual musicians have played with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Joe Bataan, Breakestra, Ozomatli, Quantic, La Santa Cecilia, Celia Cruz, and Orgone, so you know these guys are funky! They will be celebrating the release of their new 7” on Colemine Records.

Novalima w/ Jungle Fire and Gomez Comes Alive at The Conga Room
800 West Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 745-0162
$15/8PM

On Wednesday July 11th, Radio Sombra holds it monthly event, Transmission, at Eastside Luv to promote and to fundraise for the radio station. Recently, Radio Sombra added new radio shows by Maya Jupiter and Red Feminist Radio by the AF3IRM crew. With that in mind, our monthly fundraising event becomes even more important to accommodate our growing list of new programs. On this edition of Transmission, with have East Los finest, Thee Commons, performing live on the Eastside Luv stage. Personally, anytime a band put a “Thee” in front of their name, such as “Thee Midniters or “Thee Headcoats” I expect great things. The band does not disappoint. It a garage-y mess of Eastside rock & soul with some Psyche to boot. I will open the night with plenty of Worldly garage, soul, boogaloo and psyche. After the band, Heartbreak Radio’s DJ Phatrick and Art & Grooves’ Reyes will keep the dance party going till closing. Should be a great night of music.

To check out extensive LP label and price guides, head to the Vinyl Beat website!

What if there was a band that could play great rock & roll, cool R&B, plus hot Mexican and Chicano grooves?  On top of that, what if this band could also synthesize those influences into their own wonderful songs without losing any of the flavor or intensity of the various original genres?

Luckily for us, Los Lobos can do all this and more. Their body of recorded work is staggering in its breadth, beauty, and rhythmic groove. They are truly a national treasure and define the term “Americana band.”

David Hidalgo on lead guitar, vocals, and assorted other instruments gives the band a lot of its diversity and musical muscle. Steve Berlin on sax and keyboards is the newcomer in the band, having joined in 1983! Cesar Rosas is also an excellent lead guitar man and a soulful singer. Louie Perez writes much of the material, used to be the drummer, and now plays rhythm and sings. Last but certainly not least, Conrad Lozano always plays strong solid bass lines.

Other bands have successfully combined styles and, in some cases, created a whole new genre. However, I don’t think there’s ever been such an eclectic band as Los Lobos. As you can hear below, they cover a lot of bases.

"Chuco’s Cumbia"

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Last Thursday, I took part in the debut of Radiosombra.org, a new Internet radio station based out of Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles. My show was one of several that debuts that night as part of a new collective. Among the debuts were The Tao Of Funkahuatl hosted legendary Ruben Funkahuatl Guevara, Art & Grooves, an aptly titled show by art curator and deejay Reyes Rodriguez. Another show is Merkado Negro, hosted by Nico from Los Poets Del Norte and DJ Libre. their show concentrates on everything underground in the real Eastside from subversive art and music to community –building projects. My personal favorite is the brilliant Heart Break Radio, hosted by Lady Imix from Imix Books. Just like the title insinuates, it's a collection of songs to cry yourself to sleep.

Discos Immigrantes is the name of my show. It will focus on the migration of records and people, which in some cases are quite similar. In future shows, I will have interviews from folks who have either immigrated to the U.S. or who are the product of immigration (i.e. first generation Americans) The show will focus on their stories and music they have brought with them, whether in the physical form or in their memories.

Radio Sombra is the brainchild of Marco Amador, a musician and long time community activist, who set up the station and for the time being, is financing the operation. I spoke to him briefly on why he felt the need to start an Internet station in the heart of East L.A.

What made you start this station?

       

To check out extensive LP label and price guides, head to the Vinyl Beat website!

Tex-Mex, the melding of rock and roll with Chicano music, started in San Antonio and L.A. in the late 1950s. It quickly spread to all Mexican-American communities throughout the Southwest. It wasn’t called Tex-Mex in L.A., but there was a similar aesthetic in all the Chicano communities and I’ll lump them together for the purposes of this article.

Some of the more famous bands in Texas were The Sir Douglas Quintet,Sunny & the Sunliners,Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, Little Joe & the Latinaires, Freddie Fender, Rocky Gil, and The Royal Jesters. In L.A., it started with Ritchie Valens and Chris Montez, and the mid-‘60s saw the rise of Thee Midnighters, The Premiers, Cannibal & the Headhunters, and a host of lesser known bands.

A few people have wondered why I don’t use the Amoeba Blog to promote myself, so here I go. I promise to return to World Music and Amoeba Hollywood on my next blog.

As a deejay I’ve had some great gigs recently. I have performed with the likes of Celso Piña, Very Be Careful, B-Side Players and Buyepongo. Anda! A monthly retro- Cumbia/Salsa/Merengue party that DJ’s Juan Lennon, Gazooo, Mando Fever and I started three years ago is still going strong. Our Next Anda on May 7th will have DJ Nu-Mark as our guest. If you haven’t heard Nu-Mark’s latest mix, “Take Me With You” on the Mochilla label, you are in for a treat. It is a mixtape of Jurassic worldly proportions, to say the least.


I have a new residency at the Grand Star in Chinatown, joining the Intensified crew every second Saturday of the month. Intensified features great Reggae, Rocksteady and Latin sounds with The Lawless One and King Steady Beat. I am very happy to be joining them. Speaking of King Steady Beat, we will be releasing an all-vinyl Cumbia mixtape as The Mucho Lucho Sound System. That will be released in May. Artist Lalo Alcaraz did the artwork for the CD. He is the creator of the nationally syndicated comic strip "La Cucaracha” and it’s an honor that his art will be on the CD.