Get back to your roots, gente!
And with Carta Jugada, Los Cenzontles have given us a good way to do that.
Joining up with Los Texmaniacs and Flaco Jimenez, Los Cenzontles (a nahuatl word for mockingbird) have given us an amazing album of standards backed up by some amazing accordion, bajo sexto, guitar, tough bass lines and drums. Simple and to the point.
But it’s the voices of Fabiola Trujillo and Lucina Rodriguez that power this album from start to finish. Starting with the old vals Que Sacrificio and bolero Libro Abierto, backed up by Flaco Jimenez, one gets a good feeling about where this album is going. Throw in another Flaco backed ranchera in the classic Hermosimo Lucero and the title track vals and one knows this is a special album.
While Flaco Jimenez is the foremost ambassador of the accordion, one cannot but place Texmaniac Josh Baca close to the top of that list of premier squeezebox players. And his abilities are evident in my favorite tune on the album, La Traicionera, along with the dexterous bajo playing of his Tio Max Baca.
If one is looking for a huapango, one will find it on this album. Lucina and Eugene Rodriguez provide the vocals on Los Juiles, which includes some amazing rhythms and bajo/guitar playing. The corrido, Nomas Las Mujeres Quedan, is a tune about dueling ranch dynasties and about the women who are left. Finally, the closing tune is another favorite sung by Fabiola and Lucina, the beautiful bolero Una Pagina Mas, about a woman ready to leave the past to move forward in love and life.
The album is up at the different online sites. Get your copy now from Amazon or their Online Store.
About Los Cenzontles
Los Cenzontles is a band, a nonprofit organization, a music academy, a community space for youth and families, and a hub for Latino artists – all working together to amplify our Mexican roots here in the Bay Area and beyond.
We produce original music, videos, and educational tools. We teach classes to hundreds of local youth in traditional Mexican music, dance, and arts and crafts. We host many popular community events throughout the year.
Locally, we are a second home for many families and we are a long-standing leader in the Mexican roots revival here in the United States.
Make a contribution to this organization today.
doscentavos.net 