QUETZAL is one of the leading bands to stem from the Los Angeles Chicano music Movement. The band's sound coalesces Mexican indigenous music with rock and Caribbean influences. This ensemble brings together nine of the finest young musicians in Los Angeles: Martha Gonzalez (congas, lead vocals, tarima); Gabriel Gonzalez (vocals); Rocio Marron (violin); Yunior Terry (violin, chekere); Quetzal Flores (bajo sexto, cuatro, jarana); Ray Sandoval (guitar, tres, requinto jarocho); Dante Pascuzzo (bass); Kiko Cornejo (drum set); and Edson Gianesi (percussion). Together they create a sound that not only makes their audiences dance, but as Latin Heat Magazine put it, "...fills the soul and feeds the mind." The essence of QUETZAL can be found in the story of the ancient Quetzal bird who consistently resisted captivity. It did so by willing itself to sleep rather than journeying to Spain as a plunder for the Spanish crown. QUETZAL resists the captivity of superficial mainstream ideologies, finding inspiration from the cultural diversity and experience of its members, bringing together musicians of Cuban, Chicano, and Brazilian backgrounds. Their lyrics sing of the constant common struggles for dignity, for family, for community, strength from culture, and positive female roles in society. Using art as a tool for the redefinition and reconstruction of communities, each member participates heavily in community based programs, developing arts classes and workshops for children within the Los Angeles school system. . :: Performance :: Friday, December 6 & Saturday, December 7 :: Audio samples at :: QUETZAL website

Ismael “Bandolero Duran” Chilean singer, songwriter and guitarist ISMAEL DURAN was born in the “southernmost city of the world” Punta Arenas. He has been composing and performing since 1970, singing the Nueva Cancion (New Song) of Latin America throughout Chile, Europe and the Americas. In 1984, Ismael returned to Chile after eleven years in exile, initiating a period of intense activity in all aspects of cultural resistance to the Chilean dictatorship. He has performed at countless benefits for the homeless, the unemployed, relatives of political prisoners and the “disappeared” and has represented the movement of Chilean Popular Singers at Festivals in Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, the USSR and Peru. Duran sings about the people working, people striking, little children selling candy in the streets to survive, and his songs go straight to the people’s hearts, speak about our culture and traditions. He loves to perform music from other Latin American composers such as: Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, Marcelo Puednte (Chile), Daniel Viglietti and Alfredo Zitarroza (Uruguay), Chava Flores and Leon Chavez Teixeiro (Mexico), and Atahualpa Yupanqui (Argentina). Duran’s performances are very emotional and powerful. Be prepared to sing-along many beautiful songs: Gracias a La Vida, Volver a los 17, Dale tu Mano al Indio, No Soy de Aqui Ni Soy de Alla, Le Tengo Rabia al Silencio, Guantanamera, Bartola y el Gato Vindo, El Cigarrito, El Derecho de Vivir en Paz, Mis Amigos del Bar, Cuando Vuelvas These songs are bits and pieces of daily life which constitute a culture. “Subverso” Duran Vicente Duran is a son of rebellion born in Paris, France where his father was living in exile. Growing up in the Barrio in Southwest Detroit, a life experience of traveling between two countries – US and Chile – Vicente was learning everyday about the people’s life and culture and always participating with his father in the musical events of those hard years of dictatorship. In 1996 when he was attending school at MSU Vicente decided to move to Chile and since then he started to work and perform in Santiago and many other cities in the country and Latin America. Hip-Hop is the tool that he uses to communicate his political, social and cultural points of views of the world and society, from Message to Action, working from the grassroots in the “poblacion” (ghetto), day in and day out with his people. Subverso always tried to mix Latin American roots with the intense sounds of hip-hop. He believed in the power of words. He has toured throughout Chile organizing concerts and workshops and became one of the leaders of a hip-hop movement called HIP-HOPLOGIA. Also, in recent years he has participated in many events such as: II Encuentro de Hip-Hop against capitalism (Porto Alegre, Brazil), For Social Mundial (Porto Alegre, Brazil), and Primer Encuentro de Talleres de Hip-Hop (Santiago, Chile). A social political activist with a sincere message to us all, listening to Subverso’s music moves you inside out and makes you understand the voices of young people struggling to live and survive. :: Performance :: Friday, December 6 & Saturday, December 7

QUETZAL GUERRERO y CASCABEL Violin virtuoso and vocalist Quetzal Guerrero masterfully mixes up a hip hop and Latin Jazz musical concoction. This young, talented musician from Phoenix, at 18 years old, is already a veteran, having jammed with Latin music greats such as Tito Puente, Jorge Santana and Lalo Guerrero. His birth given name Quetzal derives from the Aztec-Nahuatl language and it means "precious feather". Quetzal "live on stage" conjures up images and sounds reminiscent of a young Jimi Hendrix jamming on a jet black electric violin while celebrating the exciting spirit of a Brazilian Carnaval. Quetzal has opened for the Barrio Boys, Los Illegales, Fey, Christian Castro, Vicky Carr, Acoustic Alchemy, Jorge Santana and Paul Rodriguez. He begen his classical music training at the age of four, studying the Suzuki violin method. In 1986, at age five, he attended the Suzuki International Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. This child prodigy was the featured violinist for the Conservatório Pernambucano de Música annual recital in Recife, Brazil in 1990. Quetzal started performing professionally at age ten with the group Zúm Zúm Zúm and was invited by Tito Puente, the Mambo King himself, to perform on stage in San Diego, California in 1994, and again in 1999 at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix. Legendary singer/songwriter and Grammy Award winner, Lalo Guerrero, has teamed up with Quetzal to present numerous concerts in California and Arizona. As an actor, Quetzal performed for the Tenaz Festival in San Antonio, Texas in 1993. He has appeared in the play, "La Pasión", written and directed by Zarco Guerrero, and recently starred in "A Bowl of Beings", written by Culture Clash and directed by Guillermo Reyes of Arizona State University. He is also an accomplished dancer, and has been in various performances and competitions with his award winning street dance crew, Sour Patch Urban Dance. Sour Patch is an eclectic group of young dancers from all over Phoenix. In April of 2000, they were part of a world premiere performance with H.T. Chen and Co. from New York at the ASU Gammage Auditorium. Yes, Quetzal does it all. This dynamic young Native/Latino is primed to burst upon the international music scene in a dramatic fashion. :: Performance :: Friday, December 6 :: Audio samples at :: Quetzal Guerrero's Website

O-maya ...the goal is to take all of the band members' collective musical experience and create a cohesive original fusion. A composition might meld Son, Hip Hop, Samba, Salsa, Merengue or Reggae in a way that will keep any audience dancing. The formidable talent of this Berkeley/San Francisco based collective includes: Destani Wolf: (Lead vocalist) Currently performs and tours internationally with SoVoSo, the offshoot of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra and also works with John Santos. She also can be seen with her own self-titled group. Destani is a Berkeley High graduate and also holds a degree in Music from San Franciso State University. Hector Perez: (Bongo and percussion) Producer, composer and percussionist for Michael Boyd Music. If you sit down and watch television for an hour or so it is highly likely that you will hear Hector's work on television commercials such as Coca Cola, MacDonald's, Toyota, The Gap, Levi's, and Nike. Band credits include Mox and Tierra Morena. Steve Hogan: (Bass) This super funky bassist has played with the likes of The Coup and The Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble. He is currently the house bassist at the Bird Kage and also performs Gamelan music in Indonesia. Furthermore, Steve has mad skills as a beat boxer. Bill Artola: (Keys, Accordion and Sampler) This Nicaraguan born composer, teacher and producer has performed with Wild Mango, Orquestra Borinquen, Tierra Morena and Organic Creations. Quincy Griffin: (Saxophone and Flute) Producer and Composer for Berkeley-based Earth Tones Productions specializes in creating music for film, video and the Web. Brandon has composed for feature films produced by The Carnegie Foundation, Rick Schmidt and has done corporate work for the likes of The Sharper Image, The National Park Service, John Madden and Goal Line Productions. His live credits include The Donald Bailey Quintet and Organic Creations. Rene Flores: (Conga) Born and raised in San Francisco and bottle-fed salsa as a child, Flores has played with such groups as Orquestra Borinquen, The Franco Brothers and Orquestra Sensual. The members of O-MAYA have played at such venues as The Elbo Room, Café Dunord, The Hi Ball Lounge, The Up and Down, The Red Devil Lounge, Hertz Hall, La Pena, Henry J. Kaiser, Mr E's, El Rio, Jelly's, The Great American Music Hall, Kimballs East, The Monterey Jazz Festival,The Ashkenaz and Rassela's. :: Performance :: Friday, December 6 :: Audio sample at :: O-maya's website

Mala Fama Description Coming Soon :: Performance :: Saturday, December 7

Cascada de Flores with Miguel Govea and Roberto Borrell Arwen Lawrence de Castellanos, Jorge Liceaga, Sabra Weber At the heart of Cascada de Flores is a trio featuring thecrystalline and passionate voice of Arwen Lawrence de Castellanos,the profoundly emotive guitar of Jorge Liceaga, and the magical fluteand exquisite harmonies of Sabra Weber. The music roots of these three musicians are uniquely varied: Arwen, a mariachera and folklorico dancer from Los Angeles; Jorge, from Mexico City, astellar flamenco and tres guitarist, and Sabra, a flautist and dancerfrom Iowa specializing in Cuban charanga music. Through profoundly artistic and emotive guitar melodies and two extraordinary voices whose celestial harmonies envelop you, Cascada de Flores' CD,"México", unites the sounds and styles of popular and traditional music, in a weave as diverse as Mexico's own flora and fauna: la canción mexicana, la canción ranchera, el son huasteco, el gusto, latrova, and el bolero. :: Performance :: Saturday, December 7 :: Audio samples of Miguel Govea at :: Los Compas' website:: Audio samples of Roberto Borrell at :: Orquesta la Moderna Tradición's website

Jose B. Cuellar, Ph.D. “Dr. Loco” I was born and raised within a musical working-class familia in San Antonio, Texas, but had allo my post-secondary education and academic worklife in Califas. I started performing before the age of five, and was regularly playing with the legendary Dell-Kings in San Anto by the time I graduated Brackenridge High in 1959. I dedicated my life as a player of woodwinds and singer shortly after I was honorably discharged after four-year active duty in the United States Air Force on July 31, 1964, a week before the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. A professional club musician in Las Vegas, Nevada between 1964 and 1966, I returned to southern California where I used my G.I. Bill to continue my undergraduate education at Golden West College and Cal State Long Beach. I continued working as a part-time musician to supplement my fellowships throughout my graduate career at U.C.L.A. until I finished my doctorate in anthropology in 1977. After I received my master's degree in anthropology at U.C.L.A. I started teaching Chicano Studies at the Claremont Colleges between 1971 and 1973. Between 1973 and 1975, I worked as National Science Foundation Research Fellow with the Cross-Cultural Study of Aging Project at USC's Andrus Gerontology Center. After that I returned to the Claremont Colleges for a couple of years before I accepted a position as assistant professor and anthropology and director of Chicano Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder between 1977 and 1979. During the Spring of 1979, I assumed the directorship of an ethnogerontological project with Allied Home Health Association in San Diego. The following year, I accepted a position as Associate professor of Mexican American Studies and associate director of research with the Center on Aging and San Diego State University. In 1983, I went to Stanford as a visiting professor of anthropology with the Chicano Fellows program. I left Stanford in 1988 to accept the directorship of the Mexican-American Families and Alcohol Project at the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley. I also taught for Chicano Studies at UC Berkeley during those years. I served as chair of La Raza Studies between 1990 and 1998 at SFSU, where I have also served as director of the Cesar E. Chavez Institute for Public Policy since 1994. Since the mid-1980s, I have also performed and recorded with a number of musical groups as "Dr. Loco", most notably with my group "Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeno Band." During recent years, I have also conducted research on the history and heritage of the Tex Mex sax with a fellowship provided by the Rocekfeller Foundation through San Antonio's Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (1997-98) and taught as visiting professor of Chicano Studies at UC Berkeley (1998-99). :: MC for :: Friday, December 6 :: Audio samples at :: Dr. Loco's website