Los Lobos: David Hidalge (vocals, guitars, requinto jarocho, melodica, bass, drums); Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar, quatro); Conrad Lozano (vocals, bass); Louie Perez (guitar, jarana, drums, percussion); Steve Berlin (flute, saxophone, midisaxophone, keyboards, percussion).
Additional personnel: Martha Gonzalez (vocals); Bucky Baxter (steel guitar); Fermin Herrera (Veracruz harp); Cougar Estrada, Pete Thomas (drums, percussion); Rick Marotto (drums); Victor Bisetti (percussion).
Recorded at CRG Studios, Rowland Heights and Sunset Sound,
Hollywood, California.
Initial pressings of GOOD MORNING AZTLAN included a bonus enhanced disc featuring two previously unreleased live recordings and documentary footage.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar); Conrad Lozano (vocals); Louie Pérez (guitar, jarana, drums, percussion); Fermin Herrera (harp); Steve Berlin (flute, saxophone, keyboards, percussion); Cougar Estrada (drums, percussion); Pete Thomas , Rick Marotta (drums); Victor Bisetti (percussion); Martha González (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Dave McNair; Bob Shaper; John Leckie.
Recording information: CRG Studios, Rowland Heights, CA.
Photographer: Mark VanS.
Jettisoning the studio bells-and-whistles used by the Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake production team throughout the '90s, Los Lobos change gears by hooking up with Radiohead/XTC producer John Leckie on GOOD MORNING AZTLAN, the band's 10th full-length album. Named for the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs, this 12-pack of songs draws deeply from Los Lobos' unique mix of rock, R&B, blues, and Mexican folk music. With David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas cranking up their guitars, songs like the title cut and the rumbling shuffle "Done Gone Blue" juice up the proceedings alongside mellower fare like the Curtis Mayfield-flavored soul of "The Word" and the delicate Latin flavors of "Malaque."
Ever aware of their roots in East L.A., these first-generation Mexican Americans have always made a point of writing about those who've come to this country to achieve the American dream. "Tony & Maria" finds the band revisiting characters first written about on 1985'S HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE, only to find these immigrants facing a life of fading hope. Other high points find saxman Steve Berlin blasting through the gritty funk-rock "Get To This," Quetzal singer Martha Gonzalez's harmonies gilding the soulful "Hearts Of Stone," and all of Los Lobos sizzling on the cumbia "Maria Christina."
Great rock & roll bands aren't supposed to be as modest as Los Lobos, an unlikely band comprised of five world-class musicians who write, sing, and play brilliantly, have been doing it for close to 30 years -- and don't appear to feel compelled to make a big show of it. Lack of flash should never be confused with a lack of creativity, of course, and their best album, 1992's Kiko, showed they could bend traditional structures and play with the possibilities of the studio as well as any hipsters half their age. But straightforward meat-and-potatoes rock and soul have always been their strongest calling card, and their post-Kiko work with producer Mitchell Froom found them struggling to balance their more experimental instincts with their gifts as straight-ahead players, often with uneven results. Good Morning Aztlán finds Los Lobos working with a new producer, John Leckie, whose work with Radiohead, the Fall, and Kula Shaker confirms his credentials in helping to craft intelligent, creative music. But Leckie has also worked with Dr. John and Roy Harper, and knows the importance of letting a great musician simply play; as a result, Good Morning Aztlán sounds like Los Lobos' strongest album since Kiko. Leckie has replaced Froom's banks of tape-loop keyboards and webs of audio trickery with a solid, straightforward sound that reflects the band's skills as one of rock's most consistently impressive live acts, but he's also caught them on tape with a batch of especially impressive songs, many of which deal with the nuts and bolts of life in the Hispanic community. Good Morning Aztlán swings from high-octane rock & roll ("Done Gone Blue"), soulful R&B ("Hearts of Stone"), passionate Latin grooves ( "Luz de Mi Vida"), and any number of combinations thereof, such as "Malaque"'s slinky Latin melody set to a neo-hip-hop beat, or "Get to This," which blends an old-school funk bottom with crunching rock guitars. And if Los Lobos prefer to write about small-p personal politics rather than Large-P Global Politics, their take on the sometimes funny, sometimes troubling stakes of life in Hispanic America makes it clear that they know what goes on in their neighborhood, and they have plenty of compelling things to say about it. Good Morning Aztlán isn't hip, revolutionary, or groundbreaking -- it's just a superb album from one of America's great rock bands. [A double-disc version of the album included two previously unreleased live recordings as well as a video documentary of the making of the record.] ~ Mark Deming minimize