Los Cenzontles at Yoshi’s

My favorite new band, Los Cenzontles, plays with guest artist David Hidalgo of Los Lobos this coming Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Yoshi’s Jazz Club, Oakland. Details here. (I’ll be attending the Tech Awards in Silicon Valley that night.) Above is a photo I took of Los Cenzontles playing with David Hidalgo in San Pablo this summer.

I’ve been enjoyng Los Cenzontles’s new album, Songs of Wood and Steel, a traditionally minded
blend of Mexican-American folk music. When on stage they weave in the occassional Lobos-inflected crossover rock tune.

Writes Andrew Gilbert of East Bay Express: "The Bay Area’s brilliant-hued musical aviary boasts dozens of rare and
exceptional hybrid ensembles, but none have risen from humble origins
to scintillating creative heights like Los Cenzontles. Steeped in
various forms of Mexican roots music, the San Pablo-based band has
expanded its stylistic territory from Vera Cruz and Michoacán to East
LA and the East Bay, evolving into an invaluable exponent of
Mexican-American culture."

See their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/themockingbirds.

JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.