Tag Archives: cumbia

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Sonido Gallo Negro – Chamula

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I really can’t get enough cumbia this summer. Bringing things full circle, several or all of the members of Twin Tones are in Sonido Gallo Negro. I wish there was a better version of a live performance where they are wearing their masks and have the live graphics projected by the theremin player (theraminist?).

Speaking of videos I wish I could feature, both Natalia Lafourcade & San Pascualito Rey seem to be stifled by rights contracts that forbid embedding of live performances at radio stations like KEXP. That was disappointing; tunes by those two were sonic pillars of my trip hoped to feature.

 

Thanks for hanging out with me this week.

2 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10 (2 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10)
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Xixa – Cumbia del Paletero

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We’re headed out to the Sonoran desert now, via Route 111, Route 86, and the curiously-named census designated place called Mecca. A shambling, trippy, psych & surf tune about a popsicle vendor seems appropriate for the heat coming our way down at the Salton Sea.

When I was at the Ski-Inn* late one night, sucking down pints of Mango Cart to replace the water my body has lost in its effort to keep my insides from cooking during the day, I got to chat with a few local folks. One fella told of a recent summer night in which he went to bed in 115° F heat at midnight, and got up for work before sunrise to find it had cooled off to 110°.

Yes, that makes two cumbia tunes in one week. If we’re playing Bacon rules, three bands I’ve played this week share a common connection to a fourth. Sergio Mendoza leads Orkesta Mendoza & plays keyboards in Calexico; Joey Burns & John Convertino co-founded Calexico; Xixa is fronted by Brian Lopez, a guitarist in Calexico, and Gabriel Sullivan. Lopez & Sullivan also play in Giant Sand, while Burns & Convertino are former members of that band.

* Don’t miss the patty melt, which is made with wonderfully sweet locally-grown onions. If it was good enough for Tony Bourdain, it is good enough for me

 

2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10 (2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
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Calexico + Gaby Moreno – Cumbia de Donde

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Time to get back on our way. Back on Route 62, we’ll pass the site of my first rodeo in Yucca Valley, then shed about 2000 feet of elevation on our way back through the fields of wind turbines in the lower desert and then on out to Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Indio, and Thermal, where we’ll drop to 138 feet below sea level. A road groove is what we need. Where we are headed is a constellation of no-places with names trading on dreams never realized.

1 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 10 (1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
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Orkesta Mendoza – Traicionera

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Let’s depart from the coast and head inland to Fallbrook, where we’ll start to wind north-northeast through the avocado & citrus groves and vineyards of De Luz Canyon, curving up into the Santa Ana Mountains on a private road along Sandia Creek. When we reach Temecula we join CA-79 to head out to the desert via Winchester and Hemet, and finally get onto I-10 at Beaumont. We head east into San Gorgonio Pass, the valley between the southern edge of the San Bernardino Mountains and Mt. San Jacinto, both of which climb from the pass floor to 9,000-foot peaks.

Here we find the climate transitions from one supporting Mediterranean-style agricultural crops into the Mojave desert. It gets hotter with each passing mile, but keep your window down and the A/C on your feet to help acclimatize. We’ll pull off at Cabazon to see the dinosaurs, of course. There’s plenty of wind — and due to that, the San Gogonio Pass wind farm sprawls across the open land on both sides of the freeway, the rows of wind turbines spilling out nearly to the horizon like enormous, rotating mecha-sunflowers.

What better than a tune with some big, gusty brass to push us from the pounding surf through the pass and into the beautiful, treacherous wastes? We get three trumpets, a trombone, and a flugelhorn-wielding accordionist on a ripping hot track. Pair it with some nopales, grilled onion, & charred corn tacos slathered with an extra picante chile guisado & lime crema. Just be careful despising that cactus…

(Oh, right; Sergio Mendoza’s other band is Calexico.)

2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 102 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10 (2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
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