Guerrero Breaks Out Swinging New CD
By Bruce Fessier - The Desert Sun
TODAY This event should be at Capitol Recods in Los Angeles or Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Lalo Guerrero, who has been reeling in international awards for a decade without releasing any new grownup material, is finally givig his fans the album they've long been waiting for, and he's having a party at 1 p.m. today to celebrate at Las Casuelas Nuevas in Rancho Mirage.
This is the restaurant he went to work for as a troubadour in the late '70s when most people in this valley didn't know who he was. He quit a quarter of a century later not because he was 80, but because his fame had grown so much he was too busy to commit to a regular job. Once he got invited to the White House to receive the National Medal of the Arts from Bill Clinton, Lalo belonged to the world.
But I had never heard an album of his material that truly justifies his reputation as a contemporary artist until the one he'll be unveiling today. I've heard collections of his parodies and children's songs and "Cancion Mexicana" - his "unofficial Mexican national anthem," as Clinton called it - that justify his reputation as the father of Chicano music, but nothing that reflects the youthful vigor I see in him in person.
But "Vamos a Bailar - Otra Vez!" (Let Us Dance - Again!), from Break Records in L.A., has a contemporary swing sound, thanks to a big band featuring two members of Brian Setzer's group, plus poignant ballads that continue to make Lalo a leading voice, if not the conscience, of the Chicano movement
It's recorded in English, Spanish and the universal language of swing instrumentals, and several tracks deserve airplay, although it will be an uphill battle to overcome radio's prejudice against anyone over 40, let alone 80.
The title track, "Vamos a Bailar," and "Marijuana Boogie," a song from Lalo's zoot-suit days, are swinging rave-ups and "Tin Main de Do Pingue" has a Manhattan Transfer quality with its four-part backup harmony. "Nunca Jamas" is one of Lalo's most beautiful standards and he sings it here with stirring passion.
My favorite songs on the album are two ballads he sings in Spanish and English. "Barrio Viejo" is a plaintive tune about going back to the barrio in which he grew up, and "El Carnalito" is a sincere message to his "little bros" not to join gangs or do drugs. It also sends a message to teen-age girls that babies shouldn't be having babies."
Lalo will appear at Las Casuelas Nuevas in a zoot suit and perform selections from his new album with an 18-piece band that his producer, Benjamin Esparza, selected from the top studio musicians in L.A.
"You think Brian Setzer's (band) is good? Said Lalo, "Wait 'til you hear mine."
The public is invited to this free party because, even though he belongs to the world now, Lalo is still a Coachella Valley kid at heart.