It’s not everyday a real life sirena comes to Raleigh. Lila Downs, the Mexican-American singer with a confrontational gaze and a voice to match, takes on mythological roles in many of her songs, from seductress, to murdering mother, to dispossessed child of the land. Her latest album, Border/La Linea, could pass for an updated soundtrack […]
Sylvia Pfeiffenberger
Bio: Sylvia Pfeiffenberger lives in Durham and hosts a weekly Latin music show on WXDU.
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Old Spaces, New Traditions
The Davis Baking Co. in Durham’s Lakewood district, with its striking facade mural and old neon sign, has been a landmark for decades: It was a piece goods store, a grocery and a barbershop before the Davis Company took over. Today, its transformation into the Panaderia Chicho Mexican Tienda and Bakery symbolizes the cultural changes […]
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¡CUBANISMO!
For the past six years, Cuban-born trumpeter Jesus Alemañy has led a recording and touring ensemble of extraordinary musical force and international savvy under the name Cubanismo. A new “best of” release, Mucho Gusto (“much pleasure” or “nice to meet you”), packages an assortment of danceable tunes from their four great albums, plus two unreleased […]
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Salsa Will Never Break Your Heart
While much of today’s commercial Latin music is about love, we might as well break it down by genre: Salsa is romance, merengue is sex, bachata is heartbreak. These three Caribbean dances dominate the so-called “salsa” scene in most American cities big enough to have one. For visitors from Miami or Washington, D.C., where you […]
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Rick Treviño
Recording in Spanish is nothing new to Chicano country singer Rick Treviño. The Austin native released his first few albums simultaneously in English and in Spanish, before collaborating with other Latino artists on the Los Super Seven albums. He’s taken the musical exploration of his Latin roots one step further on Mi Son, an authentic, […]
Posted inMusic
Dos Gardenias
With its red carpet and chandeliers, Raleigh Memorial Hall is not the first place you think of to go hear Afro-Cuban music. Despite that, and what many considered high ticket prices ($45 a pop), the hall had nearly filled up by 8 p.m. last Wednesday, when Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer with special guest Rubén González–part of […]