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See why 70,000 teams trust Grammarly at grammarly.com slash enterprise. From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Let the chisme begin.
And this week on the Cheese Man, it's a little serious. It's a little a bit heartfelt this week. We're going to dedicate this episode to Southern California, to Los Angeles specifically, in light of all the fires and all the stuff that's going on there.
We're both from California. It's touching both of our hearts. You more so, I think, because you actually are from Southern California. Yeah, Felix. It's a city that I think is really significant to a lot of people in our community. It's...
almost 50% Latino. It used to be Mexico. So we just wanted to take some space to talk about the music that has been a part of why it's so special. So we've each dipped into our own personal catalog of music about Southern California to help us send out healing energy and good vibes to the folks that are suffering through that stuff.
Felix is going to share a couple of songs that generally remind us of the L.A. community, and I'll be sharing some music that's more specifically from the affected areas. Ana always teases me about this. I'm an old softie. I'm going to go back to 1968 and a recording by Jose Feliciano. He did a cover of a song called California Dreamin', which was written from the perspective of someone in New York thinking about California dreams.
And it resonates with me because it reflects my own very first trip to New York in December of 1981. And it was cold and gray and dark, exactly like the lyrics say. And it really struck home to me. It really hit me. Finally, I understood hearing him sing this lament about dreaming of California. And that's sort of where I am right now, thinking about all the folks in Southern California. And just something about the way he says L.A.,
We say it differently. You know what I mean? So he says it in the song, and it struck me, and I heard it. So I wanted to start the show off with that. This is Jose Feliciano in 1968. This is California Dreamin'. Oh, the leaves, the leaves, the leaves are brown And the sky is gray Oh, I went for a winter day I'd be safe and warm
If I was Peter, if I wasn't in late, yeah, California dreamin' On such a winter's day, on such a winter's day, yeah On such a winter's day, California dreamin'
California River
First of all, Felix, I love this song. And second of all, I'm always California Dreamin', especially maybe now more than ever.
You know, I mentioned that it was a cover. There was a group called the Mamas and the Papas from the 1960s. Kind of a trippy little hippie band. Mama Cass Alley, John Phillips. It was a whole little vocal group. It was a quartet and they had these four-part harmonies and stuff.
And John Phillips and Michelle Phillips in that band, they wrote this song. And it was a very different version. It was very kind of pop-ish. They wanted to be hippies, but they also wanted to be mainstream. They wanted to sell a lot of records. So they wrote this song. But this song really struck me because of the way he slowed it down and just really just dug into the idea of thinking about California when you're so far away.
Of course, Jose Feliciano is Puerto Rican, he's from the island. He's lived all over the place, but somehow he struck a chord with those of us from California on this song. He picks it up at the end and there's all this improvisation. But for me, this is one of those classic songs that, living out here on the West Coast for 20 plus years now, when I hear this song, get the tissue. I'm a mess. Wait, Felix, living out here in the East Coast. What did I say? You said West. West.
Wishful thinking. Okay. Always. Teleport me. You can't stop California dreaming, Felix. I know, man. You're absolutely right. I have the first three songs in this show this week, so I'm going to move on to the next song. When I think about Southern California, I think about Los Angeles. There's so much history there. I used to be part of Mexico, and for the longest time,
there were more Mexicans in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, than there were in any other city in Mexico except for Mexico City. And the population there is still very, very strong. I'm going to play a song called Barrio Viejo. It's from an album called Chavez Ravine. The album is by a guitar player named Ry Cooter featuring Lalo Guerrero and Flaco Jimenez. Solo quedan los escobaros
de los hogares felices de las alegres de esa gente que yo quise por las tardes se sentaba a tomar el fresco pasaba y saludaba y aparece que hoy huele como ha estado ya Juanita
There's a whole lot of emotion for me listening to this song. Just so folks know, let me give you a very, very quick historical context on this thing. This album is a song cycle from 2005 that tells the story of a Chicano community with very, very deep historical roots. It was called Chavez Ravine, and it was a part of L.A. that housed three predominantly Mexican-American communities, Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop.
Reportedly, there were 1,800 families that were forced to relocate in the late 1950s under the guise of building low-income housing. But the land eventually became the home of the L.A. Dodgers. Dodger Stadium sits on top of these old communities. The families were never compensated for having to move. When I think of Los Angeles, I think of all the great things, but I also think of the troubled and the challenging history that's there. And in a way, Felix, it's that...
history that makes the city so special and the music so special because it does have this ever evolving transitional status where you see people get pushed out and then find ways to reclaim space reclaim land and build new communities throughout the city it's this very unique
LA phenomenon I think because it's so spread out and because there's so many variants of lands and communities it's so big right there's so many avenues to create something new and the music has always I think evolved and reflected that growth and change. And this album by Ry Cooter features Lalo Guerrero on vocals who is considered the father of Chicano music going back to the 1950s when he mixed big band jazz with like themes about pachucos and zoot suiters
And of course Flaco Jimenez from San Antonio, who is like the premier Mexican-American accordionist. So this song, all of this stuff, and it tells this story about these families who had to move. Por la calle del convento Una casa destruida
- Ry Cooter is a Southern California native
And he has immersed himself in R&B and blues. He is the guy, the mastermind behind the Buena Vista Social Club album in the early 2000s. But his heart is always in Los Angeles. And he's done a lot of music that has Mexican music background and backbone. And he was one of the guys who brought Flaco Jimenez out to the mainstream. So yeah, Ry Cooter, great album. The album is called Chavez Ravine. The track we heard is Barrio Viejo. And just everything.
As a postscript, in 2024, there was legislation calling for reparations and passed, but was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom for the folks who were displaced. He said his reasoning was that reparations should come from local L.A. County. And the woman who
sponsored the bill and wrote the bill agreed so that's in the process now being taken care of so it's not a done deal they're still working on reparations it's a famous part of LA history that if you've been around long enough Chavez Ravines means a couple of things a home of the Dodgers but also a displaced community
How could you think about Southern California and not think about this music? Let's play a little bit of the song. This is Banda MS featuring Snoop Dogg and Becky G on the track Que Maldición. We'll talk about it after, but this is everything about Southern California. La maldición de extrañar La maldición de extrañar
La maldición de extrañar. Every time you leave, there's only one thing that I know. What's that? Baby, yo te extraño. Maybe me that's la culpa. I'm guilty cause I go away a lot. But say you want me to stay and I won't. Salia, I'm here. Whenever you say that you need me. Si me necesitas, I'll arrive. Believe me. Digo double G. Soy tu querido loyal. Even when I get out.
I come right back to the yard. Mami me duele cuando no estas conmigo. Y aunque soy tu hombre, todavia soy amigo. De ti yo te amo. That means I love you dearly. And every time you go on, I'm always going to want you near me. Snoopy. Right? That one always gets me. There's a few mascots of Los Angeles and Snoop Dogg has to be one of them. Hallmark cultural figures.
The single was released in May of 2020, and then there was a remix with Becky G, which took it to an even higher level in December of that year. Also, Becky G, Notorious L.A., fanatic, hometown girl, always promoting. When I heard this song...
You know, it didn't strike me as odd or weird. It just made total sense because it represents the long history of the way the African-American communities and the Chicano communities, the Mexican-American communities, they live right next to each other, man. They're listening to each other's music. And
You know, going back to the 70s with bands like War and El Chicano, that cultural mix came out. But to me, this one, and I heard this, I'm like, yeah, thank you for updating that cultural existence. This thing makes total sense about what LA's all about. I want to see you love when you're nasty Loving your ass up on my dog with a bone You know that You don't know how much pain You know how much pain
Again, that was Que Maldicion from Banda MSF featuring Snoop Dogg and Becky G. That kind of brings us up to contemporary music. And that's what we're going to do next. We're going to take a break and then come back. And Ana has three songs that she wants to share with you. That brings us up to where we are right now. You are listening to Alt Latino.
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We're back listening to music that makes us think of Los Angeles in this really painful moment. I'm going to go ahead and talk about a couple songs that specifically come from artists from the affected communities.
I'm going to start with Pasadena, which has been hit pretty badly by the Eaton fire. Now Pasadena has undergone a lot of demographic shifts throughout its history. Currently it's over 30% Latino and it holds all kinds of generations of Latinos, right? You have people who've been there for ages, people have just got there and as a result, it's kind of
created its own world of different variants of Mexican identity, specifically within the US. So I'm actually bringing in two different artists who are both born and raised in Pasadena who are doing some pretty different styles of ultimately Mexican adjacent music. The first one I show you is Jasper Bones, who goes by Jasper. The song is Amor de Mis Sueños.
I love you, I don't want to leave you I love you, I don't want to leave you Come a little closer and let me love you Give me your lips and let me kiss you Together in the car at night everything shines I give my heart completely forever You are my love, I want to feel you all the time
I could be the one to make your wild dreams come true, come true, come true, come true, come true.
Now Jasper is a pretty small indie artist that fits really nicely in that bedroom pop space that a lot of other Mexican-American kids have been playing with. You might recognize his sound as being kind of similar to say an Omar Apollo who by the way isn't from the city but does actually currently reside in Pasadena or maybe even a Cuco. You know these Mexican-American kids who are
come from Mexican heritage are now building a new kind of Chicano sound, right? And that for them is this kind of indie bedroom pop that mixes English and Spanish. The next artist I want to show you is also of Mexican descent living in Pasadena, but expressing that Mexican identity in a totally different way.
This is Gerardo Ortiz and the song is Damaso. ♪
♪♪
♪
Now, Gerardo, interestingly enough, is a pretty big name in the regional Mexican world. His biggest listener base is in Mexico, but he is California, Pasadena, homegrown, born and raised. And I love the comparison of these two tracks side by side because it's
They are both in their equal right expressing that heritage, expressing that Pasadena culture as well. But in these really beautiful, diverse ways, it just shows how the city has been able to foster and grow a Mexican community that is all different versions of that identity.
I want to say something, but it's kind of stupid. Well, now you have to say it. When I think of Pasadena, I think of Van Halen because the Van Halen brothers are from Pasadena. Also true. A lot of amazing musicians have come out of Pasadena. It's like a very, very popular big space for, I don't know, creativity, I guess. One of the things that also strikes me about Pasadena, because I don't know a lot of people who are from there, but
You know, I used to ride the train a lot from Fresno down to Southern California. And Pasadena has this lovely little train station. And it's decorated with tile that was imported from Mexico.
And it's just a really beautiful work of art. And I guess there's no way to know if it's going to survive the fires. But that's what I thought about when I heard that the fires had reached that area, along with, you know, of course, the people who were having to evacuate. So the next community I want to pivot towards is Altadena, another community affected by the Eaton Fire. This one really broke my heart, Felix, because it...
It really kind of is one of the greatest success stories of a multicultural, multi-generational community.
community built on working class families who have been able to actually buy homes, buy property in the city and build, you know, centers for their family to come back to and care about. And it has this really incredible history of starting as an agricultural community. It then became actually one of the first middle class black communities in the city, shifted because of gentrification. And then in the 60s,
It became basically this safe haven and beautiful community for people of color. It's incredibly diverse. Many Latinos living there alongside black folks. The population is now about 30% Latino. So it's one of the most racially diverse places in LA County with this exchange of culture that is constantly going on there. So yeah,
In LA, in a city that does have a history of a lot of segregation, it's incredible to see. It's a really heartbreaking loss. I specifically wanted to highlight the music of Laura Lee Rodriguez. She goes by the artist named Empress Of. She and her mom actually lost their home in the fire in Altadena, so especially close. Talking about her, they're really...
active members of the community, of the music and art scene there. This song in particular was off her latest album, "For Your Consideration." It's the title track, and it's actually a nod to her upbringing in LA. She loves to explore her Latin identity within the city in a lot of her music. So very on point. This is "For Your Consideration." ♪ For your consideration ♪ ♪ For your consideration ♪
You sent me photos from another hemisphere You said, "I think both of you wish you were here" Took me up a canyon just to say you needed space Then you text me with temptations Once iteration
for your constitution you know for people from california there's there's this dividing line uh you're either a southern california type person or a northern california type person and i've always uh you know
I've always spent more time in Northern California just because I was born up there. I was born in Sacramento and lived in Fresno, which is almost like a dividing line in a way. It's in the middle of the state. But it was easier for me to drive to San Francisco than it was over the grapevine to get to Los Angeles for these midnight run concerts on the way back home. It's not like...
I hated Southern California like some people do. My dad's family lived for a time in Gardena. My nephew lives there right now. So, you know, I do have an attachment to Southern California. And, you know, this natural disaster like this just breaks all boundaries. Our hearts go out to everybody that's suffering through this. And it's going to just take...
A long time, if ever, to try to recover from this. Yeah, I think it's going to be a really, really difficult and painful rebuilding process. But we're really glad we're doing this show, Felix, because I think it's important to remember how culturally strong the city is. I mean, we could go on and on and on and on talking about just the richness of
of the music, of the communities, of the variety of cultures and mixes and things that exist.
It's a messy place. And I think you really learn to love the mess and appreciate it for what it is. I've been reflecting a lot on actually our interview with Ile. I bring this up sometimes because it's so powerful. But what she said about Puerto Rico when we interviewed her and that feeling of wanting to be there. We are going to include links on our page, npr.org slash npr.
Alt Latino. We want to give people a chance to look at a lot of the different mutual aid organizations, ways to donate, ways to volunteer if you are in the area. I wish I could volunteer. We hope everyone stays safe. Our hearts are with the city. And thank you for listening. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Simon Retner is our audio producer.
We get editorial support from Hazel Sills. Grace Chung is our project manager, and Sarai Muhammad is the executive producer of NPR Music. Keith Jenkins is our jefe and chief. I'm Felix Contreras. I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Thanks for listening.
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