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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

The Folly Theater featured Latin-American rock band Los Lobos on Friday night in their Cyprus Avenue Live Series. Old pros with a youthful attitude, Los Lobos has been putting their own Tejano-Mexican twist on traditional Latin folksongs, the blues, and classic American rock n’ roll for decades—with a cool vibe and natural talent for music-making that needs no translation.

Los Lobos started the concert with thee Mexican folk songs, “La Pistola y El Corazón,” “Colas,” and “Cascabel.” David Hidalgo’s voice is still as vibrant and expressive as ever, matched perfectly with band member Cesar Rosas, though all members were impressive vocalists on their own and in harmony. A highlight of the music was definitely their use of the vihuela—a small Mexican guitar. Hidalgo displayed his rapid picking style with a blunt, muted timbre on his melodic solos and Louie Perez’s persistent and rhythmic finger sweeps across the strings were bright, punchy, and energetic. Bassist Conrad Lozano expertly laid the foundation down for tight rhythms and chordal harmonies… and I don’t think he stopped smiling all night.

The band mellowed the mood with “Saint Behind the Glass,” “Kiko and the Lavender Moon,” and “Sabor a Mi,” slower tunes that were rich in different ways. “Saint” was in English and featured 12-string guitars and a sweet tone, “Kiko,” another song in English, slinked around with accordion and distorted electric guitar, and “Sabor a Mi” was a dreamily beautiful and romantic love song in Spanish. The multitude of instruments played added another dimension of enjoyment to the performance. I lost count of how many different guitars were used. The percussion was perfectly incorporated—drumset, congas, maracas, and more.

It was a pleasure to hear and see such diversity on stage; however, I found it exceedingly easier to pick out words from the Spanish lyrics than from the songs in English. There were some balance issues throughout, particularly in the beginning when the vocals were mixed too high, and later when saxophonist/keyboardist Steve Berlin’s microphones and keyboard were mixed too low. He gave excellent solos, however, especially on baritone sax, which added a welcome deep, gritty timbre to the ensemble.

Several of the almost 20 songs Los Lobos presented had infectious Latin dance rhythms during which I found it impossible to sit still. Though the audience did sit through most of the performance, Hidalgo urged the them to stand during rock n’ roll-inspired “I Got Loaded,” a request they happily obliged, remaining on their feet and dancing through the final song, “Cumbia Raza.” And what else could Los Lobos play as their encore but the always fun “La Bamba?” They morphed this, their signature from the eponymous 80’s film, with the Rascal’s “Good Lovin’” and drove the crowd wild.

Even though Los Lobos was a visiting artist to Kansas City and has been on the music scene to varying degrees for a long time, this concert reminded me there is a lot of great Latin music right here and has inspired me to seek it out this season. ¡Gracias por la buena música!

REVIEW:
Folly Cyprus Avenue Live Series
Los Lobos
Friday, October 8, 2010
Folly Theater
12^th and Central Streets, Downtown, Kansas City, MO
www.follytheatre.org

By Kristin Shafel Omiccioli

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, a native of Madison, WI, holds composition degrees (M.M., B.M.) from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States. During her time at UMKC, Kristin also focused on double bass performance and arts administration. She was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison and jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia in Kansas City at UMKC.

Kristin enjoys being active in the performing arts community. She has volunteered with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, and has played in the bass section of the Northland Symphony Orchestra, among other bass gigs around the metro. Kristin currently serves as principal bass for the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic, and is a section bassist for Kinnor Philharmonic. She joined the writing staff of KCMetropolis.org in February 2010 and has been KCM’s executive editor since July 2011. Read her blog at mylittleheartmelodies.com.