Fight SB1070 With Music; Poets; Su Teatro Summer

Ry Cooder Donates Proceeds to MALDEF from Sale of “Quicksand” Created in Response to SB 1070

LOS ANGELES, CA – Ry Cooder created his new single Quicksand in response to anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and the ongoing Arizona immigration battle. SB 1070 requires police to demand "papers' from people they stop who they suspect are "unlawfully present" in the U.S. As described by Cooder, Quicksand is a slow-burning rocker that tells the story of six would-be immigrants making their way from Mexico to the Arizona border. Ry Cooder's Quicksand went on sale exclusively on iTunes, and Cooder has pledged to donate all proceeds from the song to MALDEF.

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel, stated that Defeating Arizona's SB 1070 - and the potential copycat laws that have since been announced by unscrupulous legislators around the nation - will require a broad national community effort to reinforce the constitutional principles and values that characterize our nation. Our heartfelt thanks to Ry Cooder for being a leader in that necessary community effort.

Cooder produced the 1996 album Buena Vista Social Club, followed by solo projects with Ibrahim Ferrer and Manuel Galban, of Los Zafiros. Quicksand features Cooder's son Joachim on drums, with backup vocals by Lucina Rodgriguez and Fabiola Trujillo of the Mexican roots band Los Cenzontles. The artwork for the single features the piece Nuthin' To See Here, Keep On Movin'! by frequent collaborator Vincent Valdez.

The Devil’s Highway has been used by migrants traveling on foot for over 100 years, says Cooder of the journey depicted in the song. You should try it sometime. Out there, temperatures can get above 130 degrees. If you fall down, you have religious hallucinations, then you die, cooking from the inside out. If you get lucky, you might make it to Yuma, but then what?

You can find a link to Ry Cooder’s page featuring “Quicksand” here.

To show your support for Ry Cooder and MALDEF, visit the iTunes store to purchase Ry Cooder’s Quicksand here.

Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the law firm of the Latino community, MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.

Demetria Martinez and Martín Espada Read at National Hispanic Cultural Center

July 10, Wells Fargo Auditorium, NHCC, Albuquerque, 7:30 PM, free.

Click on the image for a better view of the details.

Su Teatro Celebrates Summer

Su Teatro celebrates summer with several cool events including Guillermo Gómez Peña, La Carpa de los Rasquachis, events in collaboration with the Biennial of the Americas, and a production of the Shadow Theater play The Life and Times of Ol' Alfred. And don't forget the annual Chicano Music Festival. Check out all the happenings at Su Teatro's web page.

Tony Garcia, Su Teatro's Executive Artistic Director, sends along this message about his search for a couple of Chicano blues bands to showcase at the Festival.

Do You Chicanos Sing the Blues?

In the tradition of the great Randy Garibay and Dr. Loco, Su Teatro is looking for Chicano bands that can sing the blues. What is Chicano blues? Well, this is the beginning of our conversation.

Corridos are the blues. Boleros are the blues. Barbacoa Blues is Chicano blues. There are songs and there are fragments. The sax middle of Angel Baby is Chicano blues (not the entire song but that section absolutely is) or Chicanos singing Jr. Walker's What Does it Take?

What is not Chicano blues? Anybody playing Brick House. Anyone playing disco. Funk is not blues; the blues are raw. I am looking for hot, painful vocals and bending guitar notes all from a Chicano perspective. If this is you, let me know. I will be bringing two bands together for the August 6 Chicano Blues night at the Chicano Music Festival. I won't be paying much, but as Gil Scott-Heron says, "there is the I ain't got me no money and I ain't got me no woman blues, which is the double blues." We are offering the maybe "I get me a little money blues." email me your ideas and let me know.

TONY GARCIA
EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
tony@suteatro.org

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Speaking of musica - I'll see some of you at Part 2 of the Colorado All-Star New Mexico and Tejano Music Festival at the Edelweiss Club, featuring Next In Line of Commerce City, Richard Baca & Sierra Gold from Pueblo, and The Rick Garcia Band. That's tonight - hope you don't miss it; Part 1 was a blast (here's a link.) And then, I may bump into some of you at the driveway party Saturday night. Sounds like a great weekend.

Later.