La Vida Yaya

RocioMarron. Photo by Berkeley Gray Photography. It is with great enthusiasm and a motherly pride that I write about my dear friend Rocio Marron who recently launched her first solo album! Veteran of the Latin and pop music scene, she's played with major recording acts Marc Anthony, Josh Groban, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cuban bass legend Cachao, Los Lobos, and others. You may have also seen her on this year's season of American Idol and The Voice performing with the finalists. We met in college where she was studying music. I would follow her to her gigs and met her wonderful family and friends. As an original member of my favorite group, Quetzal , she introduced me into this great world of LA Chicano music. Rocio spent a year writing and recording the album inspired by her family and personal experiences. “For years, I’ve enjoyed playing and interpreting other people’s music,” said Rocio. “Now I had the chance to write the music that had been inside me waiting to be rec...

Las fundadoras, Laura Rebolloso and Martha Gonzalez. When the lead singer of my favorite band comes a-calling for a special request to write about her new project, there is no way a super-fan can say no! As much as we are hounded to death to financially support everyone else's jogathon, spring break trip to Nepal, or buy magazines from guitar-playing Xanax junkies, once in a while comes a project that you wish you could fully fund on the spot. Alas, being $9,980 short, I'm doing my part and blasting this far and wide. Aside from being a Chicana singer/songwriter extraordinaire for the band Quetzal , Martha Gonzalez is also one educated chica. In 2007, Martha was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to head to Veracruz and write songs from a feminine perspective along with collaborator Laura Rebolloso, founder of Son de Madera , a son jarocho group in Veracruz. There Martha and other local women musicians gathered around kitchen tables and living rooms, multitasking songwri...

View of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge on my last trip. Photo by YayaDeLeon There's something calm and intimate about San Francisco and its surrounding areas. One of my first visits was a road trip with my girlfriends to see Quetzal perform at the Fillmore. I can't remember details but I do remember the quietness of the city and the way locals carved out serene spaces within its tiny boundaries. A little garden here, a farmer's market stand there. People moving about their business in internal contemplation. Even the Golden Gate Bridge sits quietly in the foggy haze. Perhaps that is why I am surprised to have been introduced to who has easily become my new favorite Latino hip hop/rock band, straight out of the Bay area, Bang Data. I have to credit my friend Maria for pushing me to get to know their music. I saw them play at La Cita in downtown LA but didn't pay much attention to the style or lyrics. I remember having a great time but being the music snob that I am...

I moved to LA in 1993, to an whole new urban reality from a lush, green, laid back San Antonio. It is a very culturally Mexican city where cute little old white ladies wear chili pepper earrings and yellow Mexican dresses with ruffles and the Mexicans pack into George Straight concerts and eat polish sausage wrapped in tortillas (don't knock it til you try it). Cowboy hats and boots are bilingual yanno. Leaving the Riverwalk and the Guadalupe Culture Center, the mariachis, and the Battle of the Flowers for a new city was exciting and yet disappointing. LA didn't have that peaceful co-existence of cultures I was used to in SA. It was very much us vs them here in this ocean-lined metropolis. I expected LA to be bustling with Mexican pride and power. I was hoping to find Chicano leaders at the top of their game spearheading large festivals uniting the best mariachis, the best ballet folkloricos, and singers. Afterall, everyone who was anyone in the entertainment industry landed in...

The City of Los Angeles officially declares April 23rd, 2010 as “Ozomatli Day” to celebrate and recognize the fifteenth year of the LA-based and Grammy-award winning band, Ozomatli. This celebration will include a special presentation of “Ozomatli Day” by Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Los Angeles City Council members at the Los Angeles City Hall. I have followed Ozo for years, since I moved to LA in the early 90s. My college roommate was Rocio Marron who played with Quetzal. Our group of friends at USC's Latino Floor (residential housing) would follow Rocio around to all her gigs, see Quetzal play with Ozo and other LA bands like Aztlan Underground, Quinto Sol, Lysa Flores and other groups no-longer in existence like Mazzy Star. All very talented group of musicians and friends.Although I will always be a die-hard Quetzal fan, I can't help but feel an immense amount of pride for the Ozo boys. I've gotten to know them a little more in recent years being an official Ozohe...

This just in. Quetzal, Nortec Collective, K-Paz de la Sierra, and Mariachi Reina de Los Angeles perform at El Grito on the steps of LA City Hall tonight. Festivities start at 7pm but arrive early to get a good spot. Thousands of people are expected. Read all about the event here: http://blogdowntown.com/2009/09/4676-city-updates-el-grito-sound Some background on el Grito de Dolores here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grito_de_Dolores http://www.sanmiguelguide.com/tour-el-grito.htm