Los Lobos
w/ James Hunter

Wed., Mar. 5, 2008
7:30pm

Another one-time summer festival headliner returns to town for a night of latin grooves and big beats. This is one hot show that will warm up the winter.

At this stage in their illustrious career, a new album by the East Los Angeles rock band Los Lobos is a highly anticipated event. Since they began as Los Lobos Del Este Los Angeles in 1973, they have evolved into a respected artistic entity searching for themes and topics that are an interpretive pulse of our times. Using musical molds built on the blues, rockabilly, jazz, Latin and their own Mexican-American heritage, Los Lobos have never beat their fans over the head with politics or agendas. Instead, they subtly challenge them with conscience-raising songs and thought-provoking lyrics. Their latest Hollywood Records release - "The Town and The City" - certainly does that.

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Hunter's voice has the kind of depth and nuance that invites comparisons to Sam Cooke; his songwriting craft and impassioned performances recall Them-era Van Morrison - and like those artists, Hunter's music is timeless, sounding instantly classic and perpetually modern. He recorded 'People Gonna Talk' at Liam Watson's famed Toe Rag Studios in London (also home to the White Stripes' Grammy-winning, platinum 2003 release 'Elephant'). Vintage analogue equipment is de rigueur at Toe Rag, and 'People Gonna Talk' was recorded entirely "live" - without any overdubs, computers, or even headphones - resulting in a rich, warm sound that practically dares the uninitiated to guess its date of origin.