Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles
Just Another Band from East L.A.

THE REVIEW

The very first recordings of a great group.

In the early '70s, Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles (now Los Lobos) recorded a series of tapes of Mexican folk music for a series of small films and documentaries curated by a director/journalist (their friend) named Luis Torres.

The tapes, in their original intent, were meant to give visibility to the group and serve as a boost to help the group's entry into new scenes and contracts in the music business. In 2000, Torres himself, together with the Wolves, went in search of the masters and once they were well-cleaned, the CD emerged.

The album contains motifs mainly of Mexican music ranging from the "ranchero" genre (a sort of Mexican country, the music of the Rancheros) to boleros, including a traditional Bolivian, favoring the "son jarocho" genre, which is a nice mix of Mariachi music originating from Veracruz and Mexican Son, jarocho precisely, distinguished by the predominance of syncopated rhythms, engaging and very percussive rhythms, giving musicians the possibility to create harmonic and rhythmic improvisations.
The typical instruments used are violin, marimbas, harp, percussion, and various traditional guitars and mandolins that provide us with a very ethnic sound, strongly melodic and rich in musicality and rhythm. In a very interesting album in my opinion, "Sabor a Mi" stands out, very atmospheric with a beautiful dialogue among percussion, guitar, and vocals. Also, "La Iguana", made fantastic by the very particular sound of the little guitar (requnito jarocho.. it should be called) typical of the Mexican sound. A splendid version of "Guantanamera" and another furious and exciting piece, "Flor de Huevo" with the pounding and acidic attack of a guitar rising amid shouts and screams of Mexican Rancheros racing in the vast semi-desert plains of north-western Mexico. "Cielito Lindo" played in two different ways, the traditional and huasteca styles (center-east).

A primitive, interesting, traditional album that highlights the Wolves' class both as an ensemble and as technically gifted musicians. An album that tastes of sun, sea, tequila, and lemons, ocean and dust, love, peoples, fiestas, and colorful flags.

If you like Mexico even just a little, its history, its unique and fascinating nature, and the rhythms of Latin folk music... well, this is an album that by giving it to yourself, you'll appreciate a lot. Que Viva Mexico!