VIVA NOLA December 2018

NOTAS Y COLORES
By Jorge Fuentes
If music reflects the soul of a people, then the band Los
Cenzontles is one of the clearest representations of
Mexican identity in the U.S. Eugene Rodriguez is the
director; he began the band as part of an
artist-in-residence program he was working on in
Richmond and San Pablo, California, north of San
Francisco, where his family has lived for three generations.
?We started to share traditional music and dance with the
kids and teens in the area,? Rodriguez said, and made it
clear that having good results was important. ?We were in
a tough neighborhood at the time, and we began to see a
huge influx of Mexican immigrants,? he said, so he
founded Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy to promote
traditional Mexican music, and in this way ?the cultural
work was helpful.?
The band became the focal point for the rest of the work
carried out by the academy, which keeps a strong sense of
community.
The other members of the band began as students at the
academy. They share their work with the rest of the world
online, where they feature a collection of hundreds of
videos of their performances.
Even though they don?t tour much outside of San Pablo,
they have recorded 29 albums and bring a lot of musicians
as guests, and have also collaborated with artists such as
Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Taj Mahal, and The Cheftains.
This month, they are the artists in residence at
Preservation Hall here in New Orleans.
?I?m excited about New Orleans,? said Rodriguez. ?It?s really
a special opportunity for us. We want to maintain our links
to Mexican traditions through music, so that people realize
that we are all connected. We love to share the beauty, the
pride and the quality of our music, and we want people to
understand the historic and current connections that bring
us together; that is important to us,? he said.
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