Durham Latino Festival SATURDAY (9/24)

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BREAKING: LOCATION CHANGE

Parks & Rec has announced on Friday that the festival will be MOVED INDOORS to Edison Johnson Recreation Center, 500 W. Murray Ave, due to rainy conditions at Rock Quarry Park.
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Durham's Latino Festival, which was postponed back on August 6 due to Hurricane Irene, is rescheduled for this Saturday (9/24) from 1 - 6 pm, at Edison Johnson Recreation Center, 500 W. Murray Ave.

Band bookings have changed, so here's the latest schedule which I received today from Parks and Recreation officials:

Main Stage Schedule

1:00 – 1:10 Welcome/Introductions - DPR Director - Rhonda Parker

Mayor Bill Bell, Felipe Cabrera, Consul of Mexico Rep.

1:10 – 1:50 Rey Norteño (BAND) (1st half)

1:50 – 2:05 Host/announcement of MAJOR SPONSORS

2:05 – 2:25 Rey Norteño (BAND) (2nd half)

2:25 – 2:40 Host/announcement of all sponsors – gifts/raffle & introduction of next “entertainment”.

2:40 – 3:30 Guillo Carias Trio (1st half)

3:30 – 3:45 Host/announcement of all sponsors – gifts/raffle & introduction of next “entertainment”.

3:45 – 4:00 Guillo Carias Trio (2nd half)

4:00 – 4:10 Host/announcement of all sponsors – gifts/raffle & introduction of next “entertainment”.

4:10 – 4:30 ZUMBA

4:30 – 5:00 Realeza de la Sierra (BAND) (1st half)

5:00 – 5:20 Host/Soccer Championship Awards/announcement of all sponsors – gifts & introduction of next “entertainment”.

5:20 – 6:00 Realeza de la Sierra (BAND) (2nd half)

Please feel free to contact me with any last minute questions or concerns.

Rosalie Bocelli (919) 560-4355 X 27235 or (919) 452-3476 cell

Latino Festival is FREE and OPEN to the public; Rain or Shine.

SI: blankets, lawn chairs, kids
NO: coolers, booze, pets.


Guillo Carias Trio

ABOUT THE BANDS:

A couple of my favorites are playing, namely the Dominican jazz trio of Guillo Carias, and Rey Norteño, whose norteña song "Raleigh" was a hit on Mexican Regional radio a few years back. I haven't seen them perform in ages, so I'm curious to see what singer/songwriter Fred Huerta, et al., is up to these days. Here's a neat little rehearsal video posted about a year ago:



La Realeza de la Sierra has kind of a technobanda style, and one member who appears to be a young girl playing keyboards, according to videos on YouTube. Here's their demo:

RITMO LATINO Festival in Cary SUNDAY

Free at Cary's Bond Metro Park this Sunday (8/9) from 12 noon-6 pm.

Here's a rundown of events from the festival organizers at Diamante Inc.:

FREE EVENT – UN EVENTO GRATIS

Event Schedule
(Subject to change at any time)

Main Stage – Sertoma Amphitheater

12:45 PM - Welcome
1:00 PM - Brazilian Soul
1:45 PM - Bomba y Plena Cruz dance
2:15 PM - Tambor Vivo
3:00 PM - Venezuelan Dance
3:30 PM - Triangle Salsa All Stars
4:20 PM - Tapatio
5:00 PM - Bravo Norteño

Ritmo Lounge – Kiwanis Shelter

1:00PM - Dancing with music by DJ Mauricio
1:30 PM - Salsa Classes
2:15 PM - Zumba Classes (pending)
3:00 PM - Merengue Classes
3:45 PM - Percussion Workshop W/ Beverly Botsford
4:30 PM - Dancing with music by DJ Mauricio

UPDATE added 8/10:

It was hot as Hades, but still a great place to run into old friends:











Video coming soon...

Fiesta Latina Photos

More coverage coming soon...click on any photo to enlarge or to see more at my flickr page.

Tiger Beat

More love for Los Tigres del Norte.

Some excellent photos from Friday's show by my colleague Juan Manuel Cortez, posted here with his permission. Juan is a photographer and digital artist from Colombia who freelances for Que Pasa and other local media. He's also a friend of the local music scene. Check out his professional website here.




Now, a word or two must be said about my obsession with Los Tigres' sartorial splendor.

At this show, I was observing with considerable interest and admiration the fashion sense of this very youthful mexican-regional/norteño scene. I saw girls in the zip-up stiletto boots you see everywhere, but with western detailing. One young man who sticks out in my mind wore a light pinstripe suit, accessorized with a cowboy hat and belt in matching white (paging: Saturday Night Fever). Naturally cowboy hats were unisex, with girls often favoring the straw ones they wear to the beach. Men's shirts, hats and jewelry proudly proclaimed the Mexican state that they were from. These looks had spiffiness and self-confidence, dressed up to impress, with some of these items conveying caché as they are quite expensive (hats, belts and boots), yet still casual, mixed with items you can buy at the mall or la pulga.

As I was taking in the style sense of these Mexican teenagers and twenty-somethings, I was thinking, why doesn't someone rip this look for the catwalk?

Well, someone has.

Look closely at Los Tigres del Norte's bolero suits, seen in the 2008 publicity photo that leads the English portal to their website, which to my joy they wore for the show. Peacock blue, embroidered and "bedazzled" with hand-set rhinestones and floating jigsaw puzzle pieces of all the Mexican states. The back of the suits bear a Mexican flag, flowers, and "Mexico D.F." lettered across the shoulder blades.

When I received a brief audience with Don Jorge (applying his honorific prefix, as Los Tigres' elder statesman), I asked him: WHO made your suits, and how much did they cost?

The answer: Manuel of Nashville, the Mexican-born designer, now in his 70s, responsible for nearly every bedazzling piece of flamboyant Western wear to circulate in American culture since the '60s. Check out this website which has a fantastic video showing exactly how the clothes are made, and by whom. On Manuel's myspace, one modern celebrity says Manuel's clothes "feel like sex and money."

Don Jorge said he didn't know the actual cost of the suits, but with all the handiwork involved, he figured, "they must be pretty expensive, eh?" Charming man. He greeted me with an English "how are you?" and could not have been more gracious to me, not to mention to the innumerable fans who got photos and autographs that night.

Looking around for more about Manuel, the Mexican mastermind behind this bit of quintessential americana, I came across this 2005 exhibit at Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts of 50 jackets designed to represent the American states. Clearly, this seems to be a prototype for the Los Tigres design, which was made to represent Mexico for their 2008 album of Mexican standards, Raices.

Do I dare go on about my obsession with Tigres bassist Hernán Hernández' distinctive, time-defying hairstyle? In the spirit of homage to Princess Sparkle Pony's photoblog of political hairdo gossip, I'm going to brave it.


Photo credit: Juan Manuel Cortez

I have toyed with ways to name this 'do, and after meeting Hernán, I'm going with the Susan Sontag Mullet. It was only a handshake, but enough to confirm my suspicions that Hernán wears a nice cologne, and enjoys some special attention from female fans. Ladies Love Cool Hernán.

Although the much-scorned mullet has fallen onto ridicule and parody in (much of) U.S. culture, clearly there remains an enduring precedent and healthy respect for proud manes within the Mexican stylebook. As a calling card, it hearkens back to Mexico's indigenous subtext, as well as the anarchic genius for self-invention and self-rule demonstrated by her migratory children, epitomized in the lyrics of the Jose Alfredo Jimenez song "El Rey." Be he rich or poor, the man who wears the Susan Sontag Mullet this boldly is his own sort of king.

Links: a full frontal daylight pic of the 'do at Getty Images.

Reuters caught this intriguing glimpse of it.

Tigritos vs. Yonics

More about the Los Tigres del Norte show coming soon...here's a peek at the merch table:




UPDATE:
Read my concert review in Indy online blog SCAN.

Los Yonics opened, they are a band of 10 from Acapulco fronted by father/son duo Jose Manuel Samacona and Jose Manuel Samacona Jr.. Their genre is Romantico (so says saxophonist Sanchez, who chatted with me backstage), but they incorporate various rhythms and styles including cumbia, durangense and tierra caliente. As indicated, they had a real brass section (trumpet, sax, two trombones) and two keyboardists, synthesizing other sounds like tuba and accordion. According to this video interview in Spanish with El Barrio, they are in their 33rd year, and the saxophonist I spoke to (seen in first photo below, second from right) has been with them for 17.





(click on to see larger photos)

Los Yonics wound up their set with a ranchera classic, Jose Alfredo Jimenez' "El Rey":


Los Yonics from Santa Salsera on Vimeo.
"Muy padre," as they said on La Ley.


UPDATE: Los Tigres

Here are Los Tigres del Norte doing their 1971 classic "Contrabando y Traícion" at last night's show:


Los Tigres del Norte from Santa Salsera on Vimeo.

And, a couple of short incidental videos -- this one shows more of Don Jorge's (in white hat) unique body language when he is singing corridos:


Body Language from Santa Salsera on Vimeo.

And this one shows women getting up onstage and posing for photos - without being whisked away by security! Los Tigres really love their fans:


Parade of Lovelies from Santa Salsera on Vimeo.

Read my concert review in Indy online blog SCAN.

TONIGHT! Los Tigres del Norte & Children of the Horn

UPDATE:
Read my concert review in Indy online blog SCAN.


Tonight I will make my first encounter with Los Tigres del Norte, Mexico's godfathers of norteño, at Disco Rodeo in Raleigh. Opening bands, start time? Who knows, I'm trying to tune in to La Ley 96.9 FM to get more info. Will be checking it out for the Indy online music blog SCAN.

Update: Opening for Los Tigres: Los Yonics. Calls to the venue get you to a recording in Spanish: (919) 836-8535.

Perhaps on my way in to Raleigh, I'll stop by the North Carolina Art Museum's free After Hours party, 5:30-8:00 pm, featuring a Mardi Gras theme where Children of the Horn will be busting a Dixieland groove. Among los bravos in this band are Wayne Leechford, of Orquesta GarDel, trombonist Robo Jones who gigs with salsa bands from time to time, and Jim Crew and Ed Butler of ELM Collective. The museum will be open, and a cash wine/food bar awaits. See calendar for details!


Goodness grows in North Carolina: Children of the Horn crop up

New Rey Norteño album due out next week

Raleigh's Rey Norteño's second album A La Conquista is due to be released on Sept. 23. The single "Quiero Gritar Que Te Amo" has gotten some airplay on La Ley over the summer (it can also be heard at their MySpace page), and word has it they are currently working on a video for it.