Muertos

It's Nov 2 again. Time to remember the grandparents, light some candles, and enjoy a piece of dead bread (pan de muertos). All of this is done best, of course, with some musical accompaniment...


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la dibaólica:

a few months ago, se murió mario benedetti. he was a beloved uruguayan poet & leftist militant, whose work is still recited from memory all over the americas. here he is with his camarada, musician daniel viglietti, performing "refranivocos" as viglietti plays "the devil in paradise" by violeta parra. ¡viva benedetti!


refranivocos / el diablo en el paraíso: mario benedetti / daniel viglietti

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La Cumbiambera:

The original plan for this post was to honor people who have in the last year gone on to the spirit world. Blame it on the baby, but La Cumbiambera just couldn’t get focused. So I went back to an old favorite – Quetzal – and this song “Limones Agrios,” which was composed after the passing of two of the band members’ grandfather. The song is dear to my heart because the old man lived in Oxnard, CA, which is just down the road from where my grandparents live, and because the song's central metaphor is the lemon tree. The area surrounding Oxnard is home to a huge agricultural industry, and in particular citrus orchards, so the metaphor is not random. Neither is my attachment to it as my family, beginning with my great-grandparents, has worked for many generations as laborers in the very orchards referred to in this song. Today I remember those who work the land. La tierra pertenece a quien la trabaja.


Limones Agrios: Quetzal

chican@s ♥ palestina

intifada like my mother
intifada like my brother
blue stars come crashing down
refugees martyr bound
zionist marauders move in for the slaughter
savage holocaust of a starving shanti-gaza
voices from below billow
through clouds and desert echoes

: intifada (by quetzal)

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:) oh, quetzal does east l.a. proud!! they refused to play at yesterday's fiesta shalom (ew! zionist! and tacky!) in boyle heights.

the little band from east l.a. honored our proud chican@ legacy of solidarity with the palestinian struggle for self-determination, and while they were at it called out the vendido city councilmen who endorsed the event as the barrio pimps that they are.

here is their statement:

To Whom It May Concern:

Quetzal will not be performing at the Fiesta Shalom on May 17th. When first presented with this performance, it was presented as “an opportunity to improve Jewish and Chicano relations”, which we are certainly in accordance with. When we received the contract, we noticed it was sponsored by the Israeli Consulate. For Quetzal to perform for the Israeli Consulate would mean that we ignore the following:

• Decades of zionist occupation of Palestinian lands and the historically ironic holocaustic genocide of the Palestinian people

• The Israeli/US relationship that has permitted the creation of “permanent” war against people throughout the world.

• Decades of Chican@ solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for Self-determination.

• Decades of solidarity with the non-zionist, non-imperialist peace-loving Jewish community.

• Over 500 years of genocide, enslavement, and abandonment of all people of color as well as poor whites including all the victims of the Jewish holocaust.

Quetzal is but a small part of a massive community of artists that is committed to using art as a tool to redefine and reconstruct our neighborhoods. We hope that elected officials (barrio pimps) such as Jose Huizar begin to see the light of accountability.

éso! ándale, quetzal! arriba palestina!!

thank you, gg.

El Retorno de Quetzal

What? Quetzal is coming back to the Bay Area? Those of us who kept up with their MySpace page will know that the East L.A. band was in Verzacruz for a while to make some music and since returning have been doing gigs here and there, but not HERE. Those of you who do not know Quetzal can check them out here.

Quetzal is wonderful for many reasons ranging from the compelling vocals of their lead singer Martha Gonzalez, to their musical innovation (think jarana meets electric guitar), to the fact that their 2006 album was entitled Die Cowboy Die (a message to G. W. Bush, I believe, and everything he represents). Not to mention that a man I identify as composer Quetzal Flores himself poses in drag on the album cover. Love it.

Anyway, Quetzal hasn’t done a Bay Area gig in, well, a while (unless I missed something, which is nearly impossible, but stranger things have happened). And now they’re coming back to do a show—and a workshop!—at La Peña. It’ll be good times for sure, and I expect there to be some musical reveal as to what they were up to all that time they were in Xalapa and not with us.

Here’s a visual tribute to Boyle Heights directed by Akira Boch and Joseph "Nuke" Montalvo and set to “This Is My Home,” Quetzal’s own tribute to the neighborhood that grew them.



And here they are playing live for Day of the Dead last year.

516 years and counting

Let’s be real folks, the only reason we claim today as El Día de la Raza is because they claimed it first as Columbus day, which means that really, today is not just a celebration of us but of nuestra resistencia.

I’m back here in Brooklyn, trying to decide whether or not I want to spy on the Christopher Columbus Day Parade on Monday (after 516 years this country still flagrantly celebrates colonization like it’s a good thing). In the meantime, I am reminded of all the indigenous peoples around the world who today fight for the right to their land, their culture, their language, their traditions, and their economic and political sovereignty. I am reminded of Palestine and Iraq and Chiapas and Bolivia and migrants here in the U.S., especially those from Southern Mexico and Guatemala who still maintain tribal identities. I am reminded of the struggle of First Nations north of those borders, too, especially the ones with ongoing struggles to save their sacred sites from the reaches of mining companies and ski resorts.


You must die - Quetzal

So, as we go about our active resistance today, may Quetzal’s music go before us:

“Killing of millions of people, now you must die.
Genocide missions no longer justified.

Die, die! Cowboy, die, die!
Die, die! Cowboy, die, die!
Die, die! Cowboy, die, die!
Die, die! Cowboy, die, die!

Cracker.”

En el umbral del mundo

Recently I made a mix tape—I mean iTunes playlist—for a friend of mine who was transitioning to a new job. I spent a lot of time combing through my collection to pull together songs that captured everything I thought there was to be reminded of in order to have a healthy transition—how to look back and take lessons without getting stuck, how to look forward without fear. Basically, how to live in the moment, and well, feel excited about the wide-open future.

This is the track list for the CD I eventually made. If you are in need of some inspiration/grounding/good old rockera fun (see Charly García’s “No te sobra una moneda” recorded by Los Enanitos Verdes), I suggest these songs.

Enjoy!


Me Voy Al Mundo - El Barrio (Toda una Decada, Disc 1)
Dormir Soñando - El Gran Silencio (Libres y Locos)
Oleada - Coti Sorokin con Julieta Venegas (there’s also the Julieta-only version on Sí, but I like this one better ‘cuz it has clave.)
El Viento A Favor - Enrique Bunbury (Canciones 1996/2006)
Tren Al Sur - Los Prisioneros (Ni por razón, ni por la fuerza)
No Estuvo Tan Mal - Los Enanitos Verdes (Amores Lejanos)
tengo todo - Café Tacuba (Si No)
¿No Te Sobra Una Moneda? - Los Enanitos Verdes (Guerra Gaucha)
727 - La Gusana Ciega
Hombre Al Agua - Soda Stereo (Canción Animal)
Día Cero - La Ley (Historias e Histeria)
Creo - Los Enanitos Verdes (Big Bang)
Fuera de Mi - La Ley (MTV Unplugged)
Amnesis - Quetzal (Die Cowboy Die)
Que Tengas Suertecita - Enrique Bunbury (El Viaje a Ninguna Parte)
Lucha De Gigantes - Nacha Pop (Amores Perros Soundtrack)


La Gusana Ciega playing "727" last year in Mexicali