American Soul

It would be a huge mistake to reduce the band Los Lobos down to the merits of their lively hit of 1988, La Bamba. Of course the references to the 50s and to Ritchie Valens (the father of La Bamba, who died recently) are unmistakeable, but Los Lobos’ music is rooted just as deeply in blues, rockabilly, jazz, in Mexican culture and many other Latin-American traditions. The musicians of this wonderful band built around David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas are real heavyweights of rock music – they are three-time Grammy winners, and their sound has made considerable inroads into releasing the rich Latin-American musical culture from its confining clichés.

David Hidalgo, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Los Loboswill appear for the very first time as a solo artist for Century of Song. Together with Cotito, the grand master of Peruvian Festegorhythms, Marc Ribot and other friends, Hidalgo will go on a journey to the heart of the American soul – and discover a strong Latin-American pulse beating there.

The series Century of Song has been produced by the Ruhrtriennale.