Jazz Fest New Orleans 50th: Week Two

Melinda Palacio

Selling beer, not books at the drink tent for the Carolton Rotary Club

With all the disappointment of the Rolling Stones backing out, then Stevie Nicks, there are plenty of bands holding up eight days of music at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which celebrates 50 years. The festival is also legendary for its food, but it's the music that makes people willing to pony up the $85 dollars at the door. I volunteer slinging beer for the Carolton Rotary Club. I'm glad to see the resurrection of the book tent as a pop up inside the grandstands this year. Santana was a highlight and made up for the no Stones day. Today, I'm looking forward to catching Los Lobos in the Blues Tent, who are celebrating their 45th year of touring. Orale! I'm making this post short because I have writing to do before listening to more music and selling drinks. If you are in New Orleans, find me at the drink tent between the Crawfish Monica food stand and the Acura stage.
One last thing, my favorite thing at Jazz Fest this year is the Chouval Bwa from Martinique, a merry-go round in creole tradition where a live band plays at the center and two strong men power the ride.

Carlos Santana

Chouval Bwa is the best! More big kids than little ones.

Chouval Bwa, take a ride

Ziggy Marley

Mavis Staples

Events, Exhibits, Awards, Music

I'm busy, busy with pre-publication work on my new book, Desperado: A Mile High Noir, plus we're getting ready for a quick trip to the Big Easy. So, here's all I have this week - a few events of note for the culturally aware, be it music, art, or literature.
  MI FRONTERA ES SU FRONTERA EXHIBIT BY REGIS UNIVERSITY’S TONY ORTEGA ON DISPLAY THROUGH NOVEMBER AT DAYTON MEMORIAL LIBRARY HARTMAN ART GALLERY
by D. Veasey  

Western Union from the collection of Florence Hernández-Ramos

[from the Regis University website]

Mi Frontera Es Su Frontera, an exhibit by artist Tony Ortega, will be on display from Nov. 1-29 at the Regis University Dayton Memorial Library Hartman Art Gallery. 

Ortega, an associate professor in the University’s Fine and Performing Arts department, has long been renowned for creating paintings chronicling the Latino experience. Using a signature style of bold coloration, simplified forms, anonymous figures, and cultural icons, he explores community, family, street life, labor, entertainment, youth culture, popular culture, and cultural politics.

While in the past his work has been more focused on the sociological interactions of community than on identity politics, the influences of social movements, historical precedents, and a long tradition of visual representation are profound. To Ortega, the border is porous, with layered implications.

In Mi Frontera Es Su Frontera, through the use of monotype/silkscreens, charcoal drawings, hand-colored etchings, and a mural installation, Ortega offers a timely glimpse of the melding of histories, traditions, culture, and politics of the ever-expanding and diversified population.

The Hartman Art Gallery - Dayton Memorial Library gallery hours are Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday 12:30-9 p.m.

The event, which is one of many Regis University Diversity Month activities, is sponsored by the Regis University Ignatian Collaborative for Service and Justice.

Hartman Art Gallery:  Regis University 3333 Regis Boulevard Denver, CO 80221-1099
1-800-568-8932 OR 303-458-4126


Tony Ortega's work can also currently be seen in the exhibit Sequences of Six, works by six local artists including Hunter Lawrence, Daniel Lowenstein, Clara Martinez, Sylvia Montero, Tony Ortega and Rebecca Rozales, through November 17 at CHAC (Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, 772 Santa Fe Drive, 303-571-0440, chacweb.org).

Also - Tony Ortega has a mural on the third floor of the historic McNichols Building for the Fuera de la Frontera/Outside the Border exhibition. Read more here.

DAVID HIDALGO AND MARC RIBOT: BORDER MUSIC

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Performance Date: 1/10/2013, 8:00 pm


This is the rescheduled performance for the canceled October 23 date. All tickets purchased for the 10/23 performance will be honored at the door. Will Call orders will be available for pick up day of show.

Thursday, January 10 at 8 pm
L2 Arts & Culture Center
71 East Yale Avenue
Denver, Colorado
80210


David Hidalgo is the driving vocal and guitar force of East LA’s Los Lobos and Latin Playboys, the former of which took border-hopping cultural collisions onto the world stage with a series of chart-topping songs and albums.

Marc Ribot (ex Tom Waits ex Lounge Lizards and just plain excellent guitarist) is the ex leader of downtown NY’s "The Prosthetic Cubans" (Los Cubanos Postizos).

Their musical excursions across the borders between cultures, styles and genres were the perfect preparation for this ambitious new project. West Coast meet East Coast, Real meets Prosthetic, and guitar meets guitar in a rocking post roots pan Latin rave up/descarga. Together they have forged a unique partnership where immigrant neighborhoods meet intellectual nuance – creating truly new music to stir your heart, challenge your head and move your body. They’re accompanied by original Cubanos Postizos cohorts Brad Jones (bass), Anthony “The Professor” Coleman (keyboards), EJ Rodriguez (percussion), and drummer Cougar Estrada of Los Lobos.

"At times Ribot played with the wasp-like sting of the young, Bluesbreakers-era Eric Clapton, Hidalgo replying with legato lines rich in lyricism. At other times they reversed these roles or mixed them up. The result: a profoundly memorable evening.”"
- The Australian review at Sydney Opera House

marcribot.com

$30 Advance; $32 Day of Show. $2 discount for Swallow Hill Music members
 





HECTOR TOBAR RECEIVES LUIS LEAL AWARD

Novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times journalist Hector Tobar is the recipient of UC Santa Barbara's 2012 Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature. The award was presented at a ceremony on October 31.

Tobar, a reporter, columnist, and book reviewer for the L.A. Times, is the author of two highly acclaimed novels –– The Barbarian Nurseries (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011) and The Tattooed Soldier (Penguin Books, 2000). The Barbarian Nurseries,which is set in contemporary Southern California, was listed among the best fiction of 2011 by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Boston Globe.

Tobar is also the author of "\Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identity in the Spanish-Speaking United States. This work of non-fiction examines Latino immigrants as "latter-day pioneers" who maintain their Latin American identities while embracing the opportunities made available to them in the United States.

"Hector Tobar is one of the most important social and political novelists of his generation," said Mario T. García, professor of Chicana and Chicano studies and of history at UCSB, and the organizer of the annual Leal Award. "His writings, including his novels, deal with the hidden lives of Latinos in Los Angeles and the United States. These are the people who live in the shadows due to their immigration status, and yet are very much a part of our contemporary American society. Tobar's characters reveal themselves as human beings who need to be accepted and integrated by the rest of us. Tobar is their voice." 
Read more at this link.

Rolling Stone Announces First-Ever Latin Music Special Section

Pitbull appears on back cover; Section includes Latin Hot List and 10 Greatest Latin Rock Albums of All Time

New York, NY (November 9, 2012) – Rolling Stone announced today its first-ever Latin music special section, featuring a magazine back cover and a bilingual editorial package celebrating Latin artists and culture. The issue will be available on newsstands November 9, and received advertising support from marketing communications agency Lápiz.

Pitbull appears on the back cover of the magazine and is part of the Latin Hot List, along with other influential artists and performers such as Calle 13, Maluca and Junot Díaz. In true Rolling Stone style, the section also includes the definitive list of the “10 Greatest Latin Rock Albums of All Time,” topped by Café Tacuba’s Re. The special section and back cover are in both English and Spanish.

“This section was an incredible opportunity for us to dive deep into Latin music and culture, from Pitbull to Café Tacuba,” says Nathan Brackett, Rolling Stone Deputy Managing Editor. "We are thrilled with the results."

“Lápiz offered invaluable support to help bring this concept to life, and we are excited to partner with them on this special section,” says Matt Mastrangelo, Rolling Stone Publisher.

“As an agency, Lápiz takes pride in not only serving as experts in understanding the Latino consumer, but also enabling the intersection of cultures,” says Gustavo Razzetti, EVP, Managing Director of Lápiz. “This partnership with Rolling Stone is a great example of a platform that amplifies Latino influence on mainstream.”

Later. Feed the need to read.

 

Auld Lang Syne

Welcome 2010! In the spirit of the times, how about some music to reflect on the immediate past and envision the rapidly-approaching future? Don't be a-scared! A wise man once said that we accept change when our fear of the future is finally less than our fear of the past. Go with it, you don't have a choice anyway.

Seven songs for the season.


First up, and no reflection on what you might have done last night, is Freddy Fender's classic, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights. This version is the original 1960 recording issued on a 45 RPM. Although I've looked, I've never been able to find this in vinyl or CD. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking for this original -- not the 1975 hit, or one of the many versions that the late, great Fender recorded with the Texas Tornados and others.

Next, because it's too easy to forget about the split personality of time, eternal and yet never enough, take a listen to Los Lobos doing one of my favorite songs.

End of the year might mean a few regrets or even a broken heart. Pedro Infante promises to lament unrequited love for a hundred years -- muy romántico.

Even I have to occasionally ponder those things we can't really understand. A new year is a time to take stock, say a prayer, hope for better. Los Lonely Boys do it this way --

Times are tough, no doubt. Think too hard about it, and it could get downright depressing. We got two wars that our leaders call peace and we're working our way into a third. We set a record (again) for foreclosures in 2009; unemployment is double-digit and the country has lost more than 16 million jobs. We wonder about all that money the government gave the fat cats and we shake our heads; and yet we won't give up hope. In the end, we have each other, and that's more than enough. Here's a song and video that should pick up your spirits, by Sones de México Ensemble.

The next is my New Year's toast, done much better than I could ever manage, by the incomparable Joan Baez.

To top it all off, the Corrido de Auld Lang Syne by none other than Little Bobby Rey and His Band (of Rockin' J Bells fame.) No video, just the music. Click here. Happy New Year!


Later.

More Bounty

Manuel Ramos





CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Chicana and other lesbians are needed to make submissions to a publication on Latina Lesbians to be edited by Chicana lesbian writer Juanita Ramos and published by the nonprofit Sinister Wisdom, a journal by and for female-born lesbians. With a focus on how Latina lesbians define activism and other issues, submissions can be a poem, song, letter, essay, short story, interview, journal entry, photograph, art work, etc., in Spanish and/or English. You can submit up to five entries, including written pieces and art work. Each written entry must not exceed 2,500 words. Submissions are due no later than November 1. For details, send an email to Juanita Ramos at companeras1994@yahoo.com

CATÁSTROFE
The Center for the Studies in Beckett and Contemporary Theatre Practice (Colorado State University) will present Samuel Beckett's play, Catastrophe in English and Spanish in Fort Collins and Denver, Colorado, including at El Centro Su Teatro on October 8 at 8:00 PM. The plays are directed by Eric Prince and José Luis Suárez-García. La Bloga has a special affection for Beckett, as shown by some of our previous posts, and this bilingual presentation of this particular play should be an excellent event.

LOS LOBOS SHOW TO BENEFIT ALMA MATER
Earlier this year an arson fire destroyed the auditorium at Garfield High School in East L.A. On October 14, Los Lobos will perform a benefit concert to raise funds for the reconstruction of the auditorium. The school sustained an estimated $30 million in damage. The band, whose original four members are all Garfield graduates from the early 1970s, will headline a bill with other Chicano artists including Tierra, Little Willie G of Thee Midniters and El Chicano. The event at Gibson Amphitheatre will also feature the Tex-Mex band Little Joe y La Familia and Upground.

FACE 2 FACE IN A FRENZY - ZARCO GUERRERO
I got the following info from Denver artist Jerry Vigil. Jerry also let us know that some of his most recent art can be seen in I Want Your Skull Fanzine, Issue Three, now on sale. Click on the links to find out more about Jerry or the magazine.

Face 2 Face in a Frenzy is especially geared to schools and prevention programs. It is an educational tool that addresses the many problems facing our youth today. Master Mask Maker Zarco Guerrero brings ancient archetypes to life in this freaked out and extremely funny folly featuring a curious cast of hand carved characters. Face 2 Face reveals the power of the mask to transform. The artist miraculously metamorphoses before our very eyes into multi personalities. Each masked character delivers a passionate and provocative monologue laced with poetry and song. The issues of diversity, discrimination, aging, substance abuse and nonviolence are but a few of the important themes addressed in this most artistic adventure. Face 2 Face is a maniacal one man masked melodrama that mirrors the mystery of the heart and mind in a myriad of fantastic faces. It's family friendly, and suitable for all audiences.

October 31st, 2007, Doors open - 6:30 pm
Performance: – 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Ricketson Auditorium, 2001 Colorado Blvd
Free but call to reserve tickets: 303.322.7009 or 1.800.925.2250

CHICANA NIGHT
The Hudson Valley Writers Center will host Chicana Night on October 28, beginning at 4:30 PM. Sergio Troncoso, who is on the board of this prestigious institution, told La Bloga that this year's event includes Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Helena María Viramontes. The writers will read and answer questions, and their books will be on sale. Suggested donation to attend is $5.00. Go here for all the details.

FLORICANTO PRESS ANNOUNCES NEW RELEASES
This press let us know that it has several new books including Papi Chulo by Carlos T. Mock, previously discussed here on La Bloga by Lisa. The message said:

"Floricanto Press's new releases include books in the Latina Series, and our new Gay Latino series. It also includes books about contemporary socio-political discourse, social commentary, and colonial literature (1600). Floricanto Press is definitively presenting a diverse view of Hispanic and Latino culture, including multiple voices of the literary and social spectrum to be found in the Latino community."

Click here for more about this press and its books.

LISA ALVARADO
Speaking of Lisa Alvarado -- she posted some of her fine poetry on her website and let us know that selections from her latest poetry volume, Raw Silk Suture, will be featured in the upcoming Ocho 15, edited by Francisco Aragón. You owe it to yourself to read Lisa's moving and powerful words.

INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION FESTIVAL
The International Accordion Festival kicks off October 12 at 6:30 PM at the Arneson River Theatre in La Villita in San Antonio, TX, with Santiago Jiménez, Jr, Chango Spaziuk, and Brandan. $5.00 admission. The Festival continues through October 14 featuring renowned artists from around the world playing just about every kind of accordion music you can imagine. Click here for details.

I have a couple of reading events coming up that I should mention: On October 11 at about 7:00 PM I'll speak at a gathering of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, at the Chicano Humanities & Arts Council (CHAC). Wine has been promised. On October 20, around 6:00 PM, I will join Emma Pérez for a reading and program presented by El Laboratorio, the literary collective organized by Professor John-Michael Rivera. The reception includes food and drink, in addition to mingling with the authors.
CHAC - 772 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 303-571-0440
The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar, 404 S. Upham St., Lakewood, CO 303-934-1777

Later.