This past Sunday, I jumped on I-10 East and headed down to Tucson for a Dave & Louie show. Dave & Louie being David Hidalgo and Louie Perez, two members (and the main songwriters) of Los Lobos. The atmosphere and show format could not have been cooler: two 45 minute sets of music followed by [...]

[Read more →]

Eleven years had passed since I last saw Los Lobos (1996 at the Electric Ballroom in Tempe). But like fine wine, time only makes them better and intensifies the experience. A gray bearded David Hidalgo and his band mates of thirty plus years took the stage Saturday night at the beautiful, 2-year old Ikeda Theater [...]

[Read more →]

Seeing Los Lobos live should be on the Lifetime To-Do List of every music lover out there. Well into their fourth decade of making music together, with the same core lineup of friends / musicians since their start in East L.A. - David Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Louie Perez, Steve Berlin, and Conrad Lozano - these [...]

[Read more →]

Pete and I must have had a cross country mind meld, as I swear the post you are about to read was started on my laptop late Friday night.

My first exposure to Chuck Brown came earlier this year in the way of an interview with Mike Scott (Prince, Justin Timberlake) in Guitar Player magazine. While [...]

[Read more →]

A majestic Los Lobos tune. One of those songs where I picture the singer (David Hidalgo in this case) standing atop a high hill, tall green meadow grasses all around, looking over the Pacific Ocean sunset. Love the way the intro transitions into the great lyrics. Inspiring…
Los Lobos - Be Still (mp3) - from this [...]

[Read more →]

AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill
This past weekend in Pasadena, the National Council of La Raza’s ALMA Awards took place. Our very active little purple man was there, performing with 11-man Latin juggernaut Grupo Fantasma from Austin, Texas. Things seems to be falling into place for GF. They played with Prince at a Golden Globes [...]

[Read more →]

I just returned from a much needed vacation in one of the most beautiful spots on earth: Telluride, Colorado. That pic above is the view from my parents’ place. Not bad, eh? I timed my trip to coincide with the Telluride Jazz Celebration; three days of fun in the sun rain featuring Herbie Hancock, Soulive, [...]

[Read more →]

Another random sampling of some music I’ve been particularly enjoying of late.
Though a ton of artists have recorded this Boudleaux Bryant classic, I first heard Nazareth’s version as a kid, then the Everly Brothers (who did the original in 1961). It wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally heard Gram Parsons and Emmylou [...]

[Read more →]

Tonight it’s all about atmospherics. I only own one Bill Laswell album: ‘Imaginary Cuba’. On top of that, Nick from Jazz and Conversation posted a great sample / podcast of his work a while back. So obviously I need to get on the ball and pick up some more of his stuff. From what [...]

[Read more →]

RIP Ibrahim Ferrer.
My wife and I were lucky enough to see Ibrahim and his large Cuban band at Gammage Auditorium (ASU) back in 2003. To get a better understanding of this angelic-voiced, gentle man, rent/buy Buena Vista Social Club; and listen to this.
Ibrahim Ferrer: Silencio (mp3) - duet with Omara Portuondo | Bonus: Aquellos [...]

[Read more →]