Los Lobos

Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 7:30 PM at Landmark on Main Street

Los Lobos has sold millions of records, won prestigious awards and made fans around the world. But perhaps its most lasting impact will be how well its music embodies the idea of America as a cultural melting pot. In it, styles like son jarocho, and norteño, and Tejano, and folk, and country, and doo-wop, and soul, and R&B, and rock 'n' roll and punk all come together to create a new sound that's greater than the sum of its parts.

The Grammy®-winning band, which has prided itself on never covering the same ground twice while making music for nearly 50 years.

Their journey began in 1973, when Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, and pretty much anything with strings), Perez (drums, vocals, guitar), Rosas (vocals, guitar), and Lozano (bass, vocals, guitarrón) earned their stripes playing revved-up versions of Mexican folk music in restaurants and at parties. The band evolved in the 1980s as it tapped into L.A.'s burgeoning punk and college rock scenes.

Early on, Los Lobos enjoyed critical success, winning the Grammy® for Best Mexican-American Performance for "Anselma" from its 1983 EP ...And a Time to Dance. A year later, the group released its full-length, major-label debut, How Will the Wolf Survive? Co-produced by Berlin and T. Bone Burnett, the album helped Los Lobos tie with Bruce Springsteen as Rolling Stone's Artist of the Year.

Since then, Los Lobos has continued to deliver daring and diverse albums. The band's live shows never disappoint, as documented on the recent concert recordings Live at the Fillmore (2005) and Disconnected in New York City (2013). Through the years, they've managed to keep things interesting with unexpected side trips like an album of Disney songs in 2009, along with countless contributions to tribute albums and film soundtracks. One of those - "Mariachi Suite" from the 1995 film Desperado ¬- earned the band a Grammy® for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.