VivaFest Continues To Reinvent the Concept of the Mariachi Festival

Thursday September 22, 2011

For proof of how artistic director Linda Ronstadt and her collaborators at the Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival—a.k.a. Viva Fest—are continuing to reinvent the concept of the mariachi festival this year, look no further than the Sept. 23 concert at the SJSU Event Center.

Billed as “The Sound of East L.A. Meets the Kings of Latin Swing,” and featuring Los Lobos and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the event mashes up Latin rock and salsa—a combination not likely to be found on many, if any, other mariachi-fest stages.

For Spanish Harlem Orchestra co-founder Oscar Hernandez, there’s a bit of irony in being invited to a festival celebrating Mexican heritage. The Grammy-winning group has traveled the world spreading the gospel of salsa, but they are sometimes met with skepticism in Latin America and other Spanish-speaking countries. As Hernandez was reminded while doing a recent interview in Colombia, the confusion always starts with: Why is their name in English?

“I had to explain. It’s important that people realize that Spanish Harlem translated is the barrio,” recalls Hernandez. “It was an extremely important place for the cultural development of Latinos in the city of New York in the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s. Still to this day, but mainly in those eras. So the name Spanish Harlem Orchestra has an important meaning to us and what we’re about. Cause I’m Latino and I’m fluent in Spanish—I’m what they call Nuyorican. I take a lot of pride in where I come from and what I’m about. That also has a lot to do with the music. It’s a concept that I’ve had to explain to people in Latin American countries, because they don’t always understand.”

To read the full article click here

Regalo De Dios	5:29	Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Como Baila Mi Mulata	5:42	Spanish Harlem Orchestra

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