Los Cenzontles

Los Cenzontles ("The Mockingbirds") is a Mexican-American Roots band, heavily influenced by Tejano music, country music, rock and roll, and traditional Mexican regional music such as Son Jarocho and boleros. The band's core members also operate Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center in San Pablo, California.

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Los Cenzontles


Img_capt =
Img_size = 200
Background = group_or_band
Origin = San Pablo, CA, United States
Genre = Latin Roots, Blues, Chicano Rock, Tejano, Ranchera
Years_active = 1994 - Present
URL = http://www.themockingbirds.info
Current_members = Eugene Rodriguez
Fabiola Trujillo
Lucina Rodriguez
Hugo Arroyo
Emiliano Rodriguez
Sage Baggott
Angel Abundez

History

Los Cenzontles was begun in 1989 by Eugene Rodriguez and Berenice Zuniga-Yap as part of a California Arts Council artist residency. The goal of the Los Cenzontles Project was to create a place for area youth to learn traditional Mexican music and dance. When students' training advanced, the original touring group of Los Cenztonles was formed to showcase Mexican folk music and focus on educational outreach.

In 1994, 3 major events moved Los Cenzontles to become the band as it exists today. (1) That year the recording of Papa's Dream, produced by Eugene for Los Lobos, Lalo Guerrero and members of Los Cenzontles was released. The recording was subsequently nominated for a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children [McMullen, R. "People: Local talent tapped for Grammy run", Contra Costa Times, January 5, 1996.] . (2) Eugene Rodriguez incorporated Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center as a non-profit, responding to spiraling social problems among local youth. (3) That same year, 15 year-old Cecilia Rios, San Pablo resident and close friend of many of the Center's students, was brutally raped and murdered. ["Hundreds pay respect to slain San Pablo girl 'She touched us in many different ways'", San Jose Mercury News, March 19, 1994.] In response to the tragic loss, the members of Los Cenzontles composed their first original work, El Corrido de Cecilia Rios.

In 1995, the group released its first album, Con Su Permiso, Señores. The group has released 17 albums in 13 years, including collaborations with David Hidalgo, Bobby Black, Bill Evans (banjo), Julian Gonzalez, and Santiago Jimenez, Jr. The band has performed alongside Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Los Tigres Del Norte, Grupo Mono Blanco, and Flaco Jimenez among others. Currently, Los Cenzontles tours venues in the United States and Mexico. In 2007, Los Cenzontles released its first album of all original material, Los Senn-sont-less.

With support from the James Irvine Foundation, Los Cenzontles began developing a 3 part documentary series in 2003. The “Cultures of México in California” project is a cultural preservation/awareness project that explores the changing role of roots music and dance in Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American communities in California. Their first DVD, Pasajero, was released in 2004.

Today, Los Cenzontles stays close to its activist roots. The Arts Center currently has over 200 students, and the band members continue to do educational outreach in addition to their recording and performance commitments.

Members

Current Members:

* Fabiola Trujillo - Voice
* Lucina Rodriguez - Voice, jarana, guitars
* Hugo Arroyo - Voice, jarana, electric bass & percussion
* Eugene Rodriguez - Guitars, requintos, vihuela
* Emiliano Rodriguez - Percussion, guitar, bass
* Sage Baggott - Drums and percussion

Discography

* Con Su Permiso, Señores, 1995
* You'll Come Flying
* Amor, Paz y Sinceridad, 1999
* Volando en los Cafetales, 1999
* Hypnotizada, 1999
* De Una Bonita, 2000
* Cancionero, 2000
* Cuatro Maestros, 2001
* Media Vida, 2002
* Plan de la Villa, 2002
* El Pasajero, 2003
* Pocas Palabras, 2003
* Pasajero, A Journey of Time and Memory, 2004
* El Chivo Traditional Mariachi Volume III, 2004
* El Toro Viejo Traditional Mariachi Volume IV, 2006
* Los Senn-sont-less, 2007
* Songs of Wood and Steel, 2008

DVD

* Pasajero, A Journey of Time and Memory, 2004
* Fandango, Searching for the White Monkey, 2006
* Vivir (To Live), 2008

External links

* [http://www.themockingbirds.info Los Cenzontles homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/themockingbirds Los Cenzontles on MySpace]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/loscenzontles Los Cenzontles on YouTube]
* [http://www.loscenzontles.com Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center homepage]
* [http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/emro/emroDetail.asp?Number=431 El Corrido de Cecilia Rios, Film Review]
* [http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2006/05/the_pedagogy_of.php The Pedagogy of Intangible Heritage: Los Cenzontles and Mexican Folk Music] by Maribel Alvarez

References