Band Outta East L.A. and Latinx Culture Far and Wide

A year ago, the East L.A.–born and bred band Las Cafeteras was issuing its feisty, folkloric, hybridized, and eminently danceable sound on a perch with a dramatic view, the ocean-facing back of the stylish postmodern home of Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin high in the hills of Montecito. The occasion was an endowment fundraiser for the much-cherished local institution ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara!, launched by UCSB Arts & Lectures in collaboration with other organizations around town. 

It was a fitting match, as it will be when the band pays a return visit to the city and series this weekend. At the time, the band was celebrating its own 20th anniversary, and Viva el Arte is in the midst of its own milestone 20th year. If the series has branched out from its agenda of spotlighting Mexican regional music, expanding its scope to include other Latinx and Hispanic culture, Las Cafeteras itself celebrates the happy blend of such folk music styles as son jarocho and electro-modern flavors, including spoken word, hip-hop, and rock. 

For a solid introductory taste of their multi-layered work, a good place to start is their most recent album, A Night in Nepantla (listen here). On this, their third studio project, cumbia, son jarocho, Afro-Mexican colors, house music, and other elements mix freely on the album, in true Las Cafeteras fashion. As usual, vocalist duties are shared by male and female musicians, in what has been largely a decidedly democratic collective, as bands go.

Starting out in the community magnet space known as the Eastside Café in L.A., the band has made huge strides over the course of its career, with a résumé including gigs at the Hollywood Bowl, the Montreal and Monterey jazz festivals, Bonnaroo, and more. They have shared stages with other icons in the Hispanic music diaspora, including Lila Downs and Café Tacuba. They remain true to their mission of bringing Mexican music from different sources into a harmonious — and sometimes experimental — whole, often championing social causes along the way.

Recent and current projects for the band include the Día de los Muertos–themed musical Hasta La Muerte and the upcoming Remembering Ritchie, a tour paying homage to the late, great Ritchie Valens, who also cross-referenced modern pop and historic roots with his pop hit “La Bamba,” a folk song of 19th-century origin. 

Catch Las Cafeteras around the county — Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. at the Carpinteria Veterans Memorial Building; Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. at Isla Vista Elementary School; Saturday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at Guadalupe City Hall; and the climactic “big show” on Sunday, March 22, at 6 p.m. at the Marjorie Luke Theatre. A special addition to the dense itinerary of concerts and educational meetups with young students around the county is a Sunday afternoon stop at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The band will be in the houses in our town, and well worth catching. The price? Free.

See artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.