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SAMUELI THEATER March 10, 2018

Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Out of courtesy to the artists and your fellow patrons, please take a moment to turn

off and refrain from using cellular phones, pagers, watch alarms and similar devices. The use of any audio or videorecording device or the taking of photographs (with or without

flash) is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

globalFEST – The New Golden Age of Latin Music

Las CafeterasDaniel French – vocals, jaranaDenise Carlos – vocals, jarana, zapateadoJose Cano – drums, cajonHector Flores – vocals, jarana, zapateadoGloria Estrada – bass

Flor de ToloacheMireya Ramos – violin, vocalsShae Fiol – vihuela, vocalsJulie Acosta – trumpet, vocalsEunice Aparaicio – guitarrón, vocalsThe Center applauds:

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The new Golden Age of Latin Music is being created right here in the United States. The Mexican-American communities of Arizona and California have emerged as hotbeds of musical creativity, merging styles that reflect the changing borders and shared cultural identities between Mexico and the United States. Las Cafeteras and Flor de Toloache are two of today’s most exciting bands, forging inspired new paths for the fabled Latin sound.

Las Cafeteras In 2005, rooted in community and tradition, a group of students learning Son Jarocho music became known as “Los Cafeteros,” named after the Eastside Cafe community center, which two members helped found. They soon changed their name to Las Cafeteras to honor the femi-nine spirit of the group. Without intending to, they organically evolved from student-group into a performance group aimed at sharing Afro-Mexican music from Southern Veracruz, Mexico in their neighborhoods. Over the years, Las Cafeteras would develop a genre-bending sound & electric live performance infusing lyrically rich

storytelling with the purpose of sharing the hidden stories of migrant life in Los Angeles. Las Cafeteras, whose members grew up in Los Angeles, were inspired not only from Mexican music, but from rock, reggae, hip-hop and Motown. For Las Cafeteras, it was essential to use music as a way to build bridges among the different cultures and communities that histori-cally have had tension. Through music, Las Cafeteras were trying to help build “a world where many worlds fit.” As Native and migrant children who are remixing roots music, the Las Cafeteras sound was brought to life by four distinct vocalists and their eclectic instrumenta-tion, including jaranas, a donkey jawbone, a West African bass instrument, cajón, and a wooden platform used to dance Zapateado. Their first album, Live at Mucho Wednesday, was a recording at the famous, La Cita Bar in Downtown LA. After receiv-ing local praise for a raw and authentic sound that could not be replicated, Las Cafeteras jumped into the studio to do what no one ever thought they would do—record a real record.

The success of their first studio album, It’s Time, launched the band to new heights, placing them on stages with Mexican icons Café Tacuba, Lila Downs, Edward Sharpe, and the Magnetic Zeros with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. They’ve since toured North America from the Santa Barbara Bowl in California to the Lincoln Center in New York; from the Montreal Jazz Festival to Art Basil in Miami. Las Cafeteras play music with the spirit that can only be explained through an ancient African proverb, “If you can walk, you can dance, and if you can talk you can sing.”

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About the Artists

Las Cafeteras

Flor de Toloache Latin Grammy® winner Flor de Toloache made New York City history as its first and only all -women Mariachi group. Founded in 2008, Flor de Toloache is lead by singers Mireya I. Ramos and Shae Fiol. Reminiscent of the early days of mariachi, the group start-ed as a trio, harp, violin and vihuela. Today, Flor De Toloache performs as a full Mariachi ensemble. The members hail from diverse cultural backgrounds such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, Germany, Italy and the United States. This defines their unique flavor and sound. The result of this cultural bouquet is an edgy, ver-satile and fresh take on traditional Mexican music. They coalesce as would a band of sisters, with a grace and vibrant beauty that casts a spell over their audiences not unlike the legendary Toloache flower still being used in Mexico as a love potion. While working to preserve centuries of old traditions of maria-chi, their melange of the traditional and the modern pushes the boundaries of the genre and brings mariachi music to new audiences. Over the course of the past few years, Flor de Toloache have illuminated world-renowned stages in Europe and India. In 2015 and

2016, the group embarked on an extensive European and U.S. tour as the opening act for Black Keys’ singer Dan Auerbach’s new band, The Arcs. After performances to sold-out audiences in the UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, France, they continued to captivate crowds in the U.S. at legendary venues such as First Avenue in Minneapolis, The Vic in Chicago, Terminal 5 in New York, DC 930 Club and Nashville’s Ryman Theater (The Grand Ole Opry) and Coachella. In 2017, Flor de Toloache completed a beautiful tour with Cafe Tacvba throughout the U.S. and finished out the year with a celebratory Day of the Dead tour with Grammy-winning act La Santa Cecilia and Mexrrissey, and also shared the stage with Natalia Lafourcade, Mon Laferete, Carlos Rivera and Gaby Moreno at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California. Flor de Toloache’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut album received a Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album” in 2015. In 2017 their latest album Las Caras Lindas won the Latin Grammy for Best Ranchero album. It features collabora-tions with Pedrito Martinez, Velcro and was produced by Felipe Fournier. The group’s live performances are praised

by Rolling Stone, Billboard, The New Yorker, GQ magazine and The New York Times. Following a highly praised NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert,” their collaboration with rock supergroup The Arcs landed them on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and BBC2’s Later with Jools Holland. Run by NYC Salsa powerhouse Los Hacheros’ leader Jacob Plasse, Chulo Records, the home of the band’s new record Las Caras Lindas was also the connecting bridge between Flor De Toloache and The Arcs, with whom Flor De Toloache recorded “Yours, Dreamily,” released in the fall of 2015. Also recently released were collaborations and featured appearances by Flor De Toloache on Chicano Batman’s new album Freedom is Free, No Te Va Gustar‘s new album Suenan Las Alarmas, the band’s special arrangement of “That’s What I Want for Christmas” on Paul McCartney’s production Holiday Rules Vol. 2 which also features acts such as The Roots, Norah Jones, and The Decemberists, and Luba Mason’s new record Mixtura—pro-duced by Jimmy Haslip and Luba Mason. More releases included three collaborations with Fania Records recorded and filmed live for the legendary label.

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Flor de Toloache