1	Books Author Ilan Stavans has made a career of coloring outside the lines. read more...
2	Film & TV Judy Reyes scrubs in; the perspective of Xavier Perez; back to school with Kenny Ortega. read more...
3	Music The spins of Grupo Fantasma; Calle 13 earns its reggaeton rep; listen up to Lila Downs. read more...
4	Ask Julie The surprising value of silver. read more...
5	Calendar Outstanding events around the country. read more...

Latin Forum

Music

STREETISE
Calle 13 is back and pulling no punches with its bright and clever take on the typically rough-edged reggaeton.

BY FERNANDO RUANO, JR.

Based on the reputation he has rapidly built, about the only tattoo missing from René Pérez Joglar’s fully inked arms is one of a clown. It might fit the clever and sprite singer quite nicely, if only he could find the space.
“Not being taken seriously, [and being] viewed by a lot of people as clowns is something we’ve come to expect,” says Pérez Joglar in his native Spanish. Calle 13’s lead vocalist, also known as Residente, adds, “We’re real artists and not manufactured robots.”

In a genre that is as big on bravado and street credibility as reggeaton, Calle 13’s sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek approach hasn’t exactly been welcomed.

Pérez Joglar and producer and partner Eduardo José Cabra Martinez (aka Visitante), the brains behind the inventive beats, have struck a chord with the reggaeton community. Far from ordinary, the Latin Grammy winning duo has drawn of fans and critics with their blend of Pérez Joglar’s animated lyrics and Martinez’s rhythms.

They also offer up a fresh alternative style to the genre’s typical ough and offensive lyrics, especially towards women, since their arrival three years ago.
“This isn’t about pleasing anybody ... besides that’s never going to happen,” Pérez Joglar says. Instead Calle 13 takes a different tack. Rather than lean on the gangsta crutch and fill their songs with boasts about their bling, boats and booty, (to be fair Perez Joglar occasionally broaches the topics), he draws from their real lives.

“Yeah, we have nice houses and make a good living,” he says. “But we’re not flashing it in anybody’s face. You have to carry yourself with a certain balance and dignity.”
And it’s good to hear million dollar record sales and international recognition hasn’t slowed their creative juices. They wrung it out on their new release Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo, a fun production that features a more mature Pérez Joglar. The tracks are loose and goofy and highlight Martinez’ unexpected beats and Perez Joglar’s talent for humor. The track Que Lloren, for example, is a spoof on the celebrity gossip and, as Joglar stresses, “It’s not about women and cars.”
“We’re always thinking outside the box,” says Martinez, whose customary electronica and hip-hop beats flow smoothly with the rapid interludes provided by Pérez Joglar.
If that wasn’t enough, he seems to take a stab at their critics and naysayers in Ven y Critiquen. “Come and criticize me,” he raps in Spanish, “I’m going to sell a million copies with original lyrics.”
Esto Con Eso, featuring Colombian rocker Juanes, is an homage to healthy and open relationships with women. In the family-friendly track La Perla, featuring Ruben Blades, Residente raps flawlessly for almost seven minutes about making sure his mother and grandmother are taken care of.

“We feel a responsibility [to] the people that really understand us,” he says. “The things that come to my mind are about life.”



LISTEN UP:
Lila Downs

BY JUAN CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ

Artists are alchemists who transform their experiences into gold. Lila Downs, who began singing as a child in the Mixteca region of
her native Oaxaca, Mexico, seems to have been marked by alchemy from birth.
This mestizaje is evident in her new album Shake Away, Ojo, an amalgam of styles and infl uences. After sharing her magic on tour in the United States and Mexico, Downs will travel to Europe before ending the tour in Argentina in December Downs has been led on this melodic journey by the charm of the serpent. “Serpents were important symbols in our Indian and African past,” she says. “They are symbols of casting off sorrows and having courage.” Some of her muses for the album are the culebreros (snake bite healers) of Veracruz, Mexico, a region known for traditional medicine people that include curanderos (spirit healers), yerberos (herbal healers) and hueseros (bonesetters). “Sometimes we are not too well physically, and it turns out that something is twisted in the soul and we need to get it in place, too,” she says. Her hope is to save her two countries: the United States from fear and recent troubles, and Oaxaca from hate born of civil unrest.

Her musical salve is bilingual: The 16 songs are evenly divided between Spanish and English and had the help of many cohorts. Spaniard La Mari from Chambao sings on the Spanish version of the
title track. Mercedes Sosa of Argentina sings a duet of Tierra de Luz. Long-time friend Ruben Albarrán of Café Tacuba, collaborated on Perro Negro. Singer and guitarist Raul Midón lends his talents for this
piece. Spanish rocker Enrique Bunbury helps on Justicia, a song of the search for justice.

This collage might seem like it was put together on impulse, but it actually was born from discipline and
desire. “It is intuitive, I need to say this,” Downs says. “But
I have to sit down every day to write the words and thoughts.” When she adds her voice—with its deep soul sounds and haunting high notes—it has a healing effect that is enchanting people the world over.

HA*ASH

BY FERNANDO RUANO, JR.

Two decades have passed since Hanna Nicole and Ashley Grace Perez began delighting churchgoers in Lake Charles, Louisiana with their sweet and melodic voices. “[It was] a good feeling, and scary, [to have] all these eyes on you,” says Hanna, 23, of sister act Ha*Ash.
That same attitude and vocal charm, with a few hard guitar riffs and Latin pop rhythms sprinkled in, have served the Mexican-American duo well. The former choir girls’ most recent album is called Habitacion Doble.
“We feel a certain attachment and responsibility to our audience,” says Ashley. “And we’ve always tried to interpret that through our music.” Mission accomplished.

A three-year hiatus between albums allowed them to study music in Mexico, infusing their newest recording with personal experiences, country rhythms and strong song writing. “We’ve grown up a lot and experienced a lot the last three years,” says Hanna, who helped shuffle through 200 songs to come up with the album’s final lineup.

Habitacion Doble offers an indication of the group’s small-town roots, from its homey lyrics to the bright motel outpost on the back cover. Already Home, the fi rst English-track recorded by the duo, is a true refl ection of where their hearts are as they express their appreciation of being back in a place they love.

A FUNKY LITTLE TWIST
Ten-piece orchestra Grupo Fantasma puts their unique spin on Latin grooves

BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO

Central Texas is an area where Latin music roots lay firmly in the accordion-driven sounds of conjunto and the country- western flavors of Tejano. But the Lone Star State capital (aka the Live Music
Capital of the World) is home to an array of bands including the 10-piece Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma. “[Austin] is the liberal oasis of Texas and there’s more of an international presence here as far as the youth and artistic movements are concerned,” says bassist Greg Gonzalez, a Laredo native. And while it’s expected that an eclectic group like this would be a hometown favorite, Grupo Fatasma’s instrumental prowess has burst beyond the city limits with the help of some famous friends.

Not only has it attracted the attention of Prince, but the Purple One has taken the group under his wing: He recruited them for a residency gig in his now defunct Las Vegas nightclub 3121 back in
Thanksgiving 2006, and hired them to play with him before 20,000 people in England last August at the Coachella festival, among others.

Not bad for an outfit created out of the remnants of two local Austin acts, The Blue Noise Band and The Blimp. Like fellow horn-driven combos Antibalas and Sharon Jones and The DapKings, Grupo Fantasma puts a distinct hybridized twist on traditional sounds, in this case fusing Colombian cumbia with Afro-Caribbean slices of salsa, merengue, son and guarachas, all smothered with hefty doses of funk.
Over the course of four albums, the band has refined its sound, starting with the psychedelic-flavored ‘70s Latin-rock of its 2002 self-titled debut and evolving into 2004’s Movimiento Popular, a collection of songs steeped in Caribbean music that Gonzalez credits to the arrival of singer/timbale player Jose Galeano in the band’s ranks.
“He learned from his uncle, Chepito Areas, who’s the original timbale player from the Santana band,” says Gonzalez. “At the point we incorporated [ Jose], he showed us a lot of techniques that we
were aware of but didn’t quite understand how they worked. You hear tropical music, which is what they called it on the border, and it was kind of a generic term that covered all the Cuban and Caribbean styles.” While he feels Movimiento was a good step forward, Gonzalez felt its polished production didn’t capture the vibrancy of the band’s concerts, which the release of 2006’s Comes Alive attempted to do. Recorded at a March 2006 Austin gig, it finds Grupo Fantasma stretching and soloing as the band effortlessly changes gears between cumbia, rock, funk and everything in-between.
But it’s on this year’s Sonidos Gold where it all comes together—the effort- less mastery of styles and potency of the band’s formidable instrumentalists, caught up in a warm analog embrace. Touchstones abound: Cuban fusionists Irakere has given Bacalao Con Pan a dirty
funk workout overflowing with wah-wah guitar and fleet-fingered keyboard runs that could have been a vintage ’70s Malo outtake. Arroz con Frijoles mixes a Brazilian bossa nova groove with the exu-
berant whistle-blowing associated with Carnaval, while including brassy punctuation reminiscent of Johnny Ventura’s brand of vibrant Dominican merengue. One influence that’s also apparent is that of the Fania All-Stars, whose legendary bandleader/arranger Larry Harlow appears on Rumba y Guaguanco, with spirited boogaloo rhythms and Yoruba chants, and Se Te Mira, whose congas,
hand claps and sharply played horn arrangements offer up plenty of grit. “We were huge into the Fania All Stars, especially artists like Ray Barretto, Bobby Valentin, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon and Celia Cruz,” Gonzalez says. “When we wanted to hear salsa, we
wanted to hear grimy, Colombian and Puerto Rican salsa from the ‘70s, played by sweaty guys in polyester suits who were trying to mix in funk and doo-wop sounds because they grew up in New York. ... To me you can’t consider something funky unless it gets people dancing up a sweat and they don’t care what they look like. It’s like saying you can have sex without touching somebody.”

Elsewhere, the reverb soaked dub cut Cumbia de Los Pajaritos not only slows the pace down, but is a solid bridge between the passionate shuffle Rebotar and Gimme Some. The only English-language number on the album, Gimme Some has a guaracha imprint, a fiery solo by sax master Maceo Parker and Santanaish guitar riffing further accentuated by the inclusion of the chorus from that band’s No One Can Depend On.
There’s a certain connection Grupo Fantasma has with second and third- generation Latinos—those who are most likely bilingual and respectful of cultural traditions while trying to navigate the mainstream.
“I can easily hear the influence of the funk and rock and roll from America, and I can clearly hear the influence of Latin America in the cumbia, but I think more than anything, it’s the openness we bring,”
Gonzalez says. “You don’t have to pretend to be from Cuba or Puerto
Rico. You can just be who you are, feel the music, come out and dance. That’s what we’ve always been trying to do— break down those boundaries that the traditionalists established, which to us
have been more annoyances than any physical boundaries. People put up these walls in their minds but they don’t exist at all.”






SOUNDBITES
Whether live in concert or in fresh new albums, music is alive in October. Luis Miguel and Jaguares continue to rock the country, but these picks are also some of the month’s best.

Bajofondo
The Argentine musicians headed by Gustavo Santaolalla make a stop in the Sunshine State this month as Miami Beach gets a little taste of techno tango Bajofondo style.

Cesária Évora: The Barefoot Diva
The Brazilian songstress makes three U.S. tour stops this month: fi rst in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., then into Boston and ending the month in sunny Los Angeles.

Calle 13
Puerto Rico’s favorite raperos couldn’t pick more appropriate places to rock the month. First they hit New York City then move south along the coast to Miami.

Ozomatli
The international all-boy-band from the states sing their fusion of Latino-Chicano-Spanglish- Salsa and big band flavor in Houston, Texas.

Los Enanitos Verdes
The classic rock en Español troupe brings their‘80s hits to the Second City in Chicago and to Sin City in Las Vegas.



MUSIC

Title: Cada Dia Un Regalo
Artist: Sol y Canto
Genre: Singer songwriter
Why Try: A mix of songs composed with social justice in mind.

Title: Rey sin Reina
Artist: El Flaco Elizalde
Genre: Regional Mexican
Why Try: Corridos, rancheras, baladas and upbeat tracks with campirano spirits take root here.

Title: David Cavazos
Artist: David Cavazos
Genre: Pop
Why Try: Pop goes back
to its roots with this romantic balladeer with a smooth set of pipes

Title: Real ... En Vivo
Artist: Ednita Nazario
Genre: Rock en Español
Why Try: Rough rock
vocals mix with sentimental lyrics in this 12-track live set.

Title: A Puro Dolor
Artist: Nadia
Genre: Regional Mexican
Why Try: Regional hits are reborn when interpreted in ranchera style.

Title: Tu Inspiracion
Artist: Alacranes
Musicales
Genre: Regional Mexican
Why Try: The musicos Duranguense are back with their seventh album.

Title: Latin Lounge
Artist: Various
Genre: Lounge
Why Try: This collection
of 14 tracks is as diverse as the artists featured.

Title: Regalo de Dios
Artist: Daniel Sanchez
Genre: Norteño
Why Try: Inspiring and
catchy, Sanchez’ tracks lay a hopeful foundation for this uplifting album.