La Santa Cecilia celebrates its quinceañera with a new album
ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
La Santa Cecilia is an LA band that plays rock and pop and a wide range of traditional Mexican music. They're celebrating 15 years playing together with a new album called "Cuatro Copas." The recording sessions took place at a country estate in Baja, Calif. Betto Arcos was there and has the story.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BETTO ARCOS, BYLINE: As the sun goes down in Baja's Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico's wine country, members of La Santa Cecilia, their close friends and a few special guests gather around a bonfire. The band is playing and singing Mexican rancheras, some ballads and boleros - love songs - such as this one called "Poquita Fe."
LA SANTA CECILIA: (Singing in Spanish).
ARCOS: Lead singer La Marisoul says many of the songs in this album are part of their personal history, growing up in downtown LA surrounded by Mexican musicians who taught them how to sing and play.
LA MARISOUL: I didn't really learn this music from recordings. I learned it from live musicians playing on the street, entonces, some of these songs are songs that we've loved to interpret from way back when we were - before La Santa Cecilia, no, when we were Marisol y Los Hermanos Carlos, singing on the weekends at placitas, singing at weddings and quinceaneras and things like that.
ARCOS: This is the band's own quinceanera, a festive and joyous celebration of the 15 years together, playing the music they love.
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ARCOS: It's a live recording. Under the music, you can hear the sound of crickets, birds and a light breeze. The vibe here can be best described as a bohemian night filled with music, conversation and, yes, some imbibing, too. Hence the album's title, "Cuatro Copas: Bohemia En La Finca Altozano” - "Four Drinks: Bohemia At The Altozano Estate." Guitarist and accordionist Pepe Carlos says the album includes...
PEPE CARLOS: Songs that were inherited by our parents while they were listening to at Home or songs like "Pescadores De Ensenada," Los Cadetes de Linares. We were listening to all this music at home. So I think it's also a bridge between our parents, our roots musically.
LA SANTA CECILIA: (Singing in Spanish).
ARCOS: As a band, La Santa Cecilia has been an ideal vehicle for the musicians to experiment with all kinds of American and Latin music. They've played everything from rock to cumbia, pop tunes and ballads, and they've recorded albums in English, Spanish and Spanglish. Singer La Marisoul says there's nothing like singing songs with friends around the fire.
LA MARISOUL: I love being on the stage. I love being on tour. I love being on the road. I love playing festivals like Vive Latino and all that stuff. But there's just something about getting together with your friends and just singing music and just enjoying music in its simplest form, you know, with the guitar, (speaking Spanish).
LA SANTA CECILIA: (Singing in Spanish).
ARCOS: This album opens a window into the band's personal lives. It's a glimpse of how the group thrives and creates community, says percussionist Miguel Ramirez.
MIGUEL RAMIREZ: And it's so cool to be able to just be like, this is who we are. This is how we live. This is what we do for fun. This is what we do for enjoyment. And we hope that you get to be a part of it through this record, you know.
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ARCOS: For this special celebration, the band invited a few guest singers such as Patricio Hidalgo, a Son Jarocho artist from Mexico's Gulf state of Veracruz. The Grammy-winning musician says he's impressed by the band's natural ability to play and record music at the spur of the moment.
PATRICIO HIDALGO: (Through interpreter) It's astonishing how the band can be so laid back and play so relaxed. Everything you will hear in this recording was done right here live. There was no such a thing as reaching an agreement, previous rehearsal or music arrangement.
ARCOS: Bass player Alex Bendana says this album is a testament to the band's resilience, being together as a family, making music for 15 years.
ALEX BENDANA: I think it's very rare for bands who start off in LA and, like, end up with an amazing career. Every year was a different experience of evolution, you know, in the band or our individual persons, you know. We were always growing together.
LA SANTA CECILIA: (Singing in Spanish).
ARCOS: La Santa Cecilia recently performed to thousands of adoring fans at Mexico City's Vive Latino, the country's biggest music festival. Speaking emotionally and tearing up, singer La Marisoul says after 15 years trying to connect to audiences in Mexico with their music...
LA MARISOUL: Feeling that love and feeling that appreciation and the connection with our brothers and sisters, with our motherland, con Mexico, that makes me feel very proud, very grateful to be able to live this moment and share our story with people now.
ARCOS: Next month, La Santa Cecilia embarks on a countrywide tour with stops in San Antonio, Chicago, New York and Wolf Trap in Virginia. For NPR News, I'm Betto Arcos.
LA SANTA CECILIA: (Singing in Spanish).
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