The Diverse Sounds Of Modern Mexico: DIA DE LOS MUERTE LIVE Celebrates Mariachi And Latin Rock At The McCallum Theatre

The McCallum Theatre presents Dia de los Muertos Live, featuring La Santa Cecilia, Mexrrissey, and Mariachi Flor de Toloache, on Saturday, October 28, at 8:00pm.

For the first time ever, these three exciting Mexican artists are coming together to celebrate Dia de los Muertos by showcasing the diverse sounds of modern Mexico. Los Angeles-based La Santa Cecilia's unique sound blends Latin rhythms with rock and world music, earning them a Grammy for Best Latin Rock Album. Mexrrissey caringly reimagines songs by Morrissey and The Smiths in Spanish with a definitive Mexican instrumentation and voice. Grammy-nominated Mariachi Flor de Toloache is the first all-female mariachi group, whose distinct interpretation of this musical tradition most recently got them on tour with Dan Auerbach's band The Arcs.

La Santa Cecilia
La Santa Cecilia started their career by serenading passersby on the corners of Downtown Los Angeles' Olvera Street. They are a musical phenomenon, having won a Grammy, toured from coast to coast, collaborated with Elvis Costello, appeared on "Conan," and most recently, shared the stage with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

Named after the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia is composed of accordionist and requinto player Jose "Pepe" Carlos, bassist Alex Bendaña, percussionist Miguel "Oso" Ramirez, and vocalist "La Marisoul." Singing about love, loss, and disappointment, the band has become the voice of a new bicultural generation in the United States, fully immersed in modern music, but still close to their Latin American influences and Mexican heritage.

La Santa Cecilia was thrown onto the map in 2011 with the release of their debut album Noches y Citas. This album gave them their first nomination at the Latin Grammy Awards for the single "La Negra." It was also with this release that they first voiced their sympathy and support for various human rights movements, and have since used their music to openly support these causes. They followed that album with El Valor in 2012, which was named one of the best albums of the year by NPR's Alt Latino.

And then came the big one-Treinta Días. The album, recorded in 2013, showed the band moving in a more sophisticated direction, while holding true to themselves. They combined cumbia, reggae, soul, tango, and their L.A. spice to create an album that won the Grammy for "Best Latin Rock Album, Alternative or Urban" in 2014. The album featured the song "ICE (El Hielo)," which was an anthem on humanizing the immigration tactics in the U.S. The song was controversial, and its accompanying video rang true to many who saw it. The song received accolades from major media outlets around the country, while the video was nominated for "Video of the Year" at Premios Lo Nuestro.

In 2014, La Santa Cecilia made their major label debut with Someday New released on Universal. The first single, "La Cumbia Morada," combined infectious pop melodies with touches of cumbia. That same year, the band did something they never imagined - they performed at the legendary Vive Latino in front of thousands of screaming fans.

Summer 2014 was a busy season for the band. They presented their politically-infused video for "Strawberry Fields Forever" at the League of United Latin American Citizens luncheon in New York, accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama. La Marisoul had the honor of singing the national anthem to the over 1,500 Latino leaders in attendance. Later that summer, the band played the sold out Reventón festival for over 20,000 people.

As if that wasn't enough, La Santa Cecilia hit the big screen. They recorded the song "Tu Vida Es Un Escenario," which was included in the award winning film Cantinflas and collaborated with Gustavo Santaolalla on "The Apology Song" for the animated hit film The Book of Life, directed by Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro.

The band is also highly synced, with songs appearing in popular TV shows like "Weeds," "Entourage," and "The Bridge." Marisoul was featured as a guest performer on Pepe Aguilar's MTV Unplugged, the first Unplugged by a ranchero artist. Pepe Aguilar later invited La Santa Cecilia on stage at the National Auditorium in Mexico.

In 2015, the band started dropping hints about a new album. During the summer, they released "I Won't Cry for You," produced by multi-Grammy winning Sebastian Krys. The song plays with jazzy nuances, while juxtaposing with traditional sounding accordion riffs and a tasteful pop melody. "Calaverita" was released that fall, a tribute to the Latin American tradition of "Day of the Dead," - in celebration of those we've lost. The band ended the year with a momentous appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," where they played "I Won't Cry for You."

More recently in January 2016, the band played Jeff Buck's Todos Santos Festival in Baja California, joined on stage by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on electric mandolin for a special rendition of "La Morena."

Buenaventura (2016) is La Santa Cecilia's latest album. They celebrated by playing the Appel Room at Lincoln Center in New York City, and a homecoming show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall alongside Buika.

Mexrrissey
In Mexico, Morrissey has always been a prophet with honor. His songs of love, loss and longing, with powerful imagery and metaphors found a huge audience with generations raised on rancheras and mariachis and their singers who were not afraid to cross the line.

Now the love has been returned, with a band made in Mexico City reinventing Morrissey's and The Smiths' songs south of the border. Together they sound like a brass and string led combo from the smallest village with the biggest bleeding heart. Camilo Lara, the force inside Mexican Institute of Sound, has put together, in Mexrrissey, a team of musicians from Mexico's finest bands.

The band has had an incredible trajectory from a first try out show in Mexico City in April 2015, followed by a sold out mainstage debut at the Barbican in The La Linea Festival in London, a UK tour (including an emotional sold out Manchester gig), and triumphant shows at BAM in New York and The Regent in Los Angeles.

The band's debut album, No Manchester, released in March 2016, was recorded in Mexico DF and Tucson, Arizona. The album was produced by Camilo Lara. The arrangements are by Lara and Sergio Mendoza. The album was mixed by Jack Lahana, winner of multiple Grammys for his work with Phoenix and Daft Punk. "No Manchester" is a Mexican slang phrase meaning "no way" or "are you kidding me?," but more than that, it means that these songs, born in Manchester, have grown up, changed their hair and clothes, and are living in Mexico under assumed names.

Taking us on a journey of love, loss and longing is an incredible team of big hitters from Mexico's rock and pop world, who immediately said "yes" to Mexrrissey's invitation. Live, the band performs as a seven piece with a revolving, and evolving, line-up of the who's who of the what's what of the new Mexican music scene, which includes underground legend Chetes (Zurdok) on guitar, Jay De La Cueva (Moderatto /Titán) on bass, Ceci Bastida (Tijuana No) on keyboards, Adan Jodorowsky (Adanowsky) on guitar, Liber Teran (Los de Abajo) on guitar, Alejandro Flores (Café Tacuba's favorite violin player), Alex Gonzales on trumpet (Twin Tones), Ricardo Najera on drums (Furland), Sergio Mendoza and Jacob Valenzuela (both from Calexico) on vibes and accordion and trumpet respectively, and always Camilo Lara adding his trademark sampling and electronics. Vocals are shared between four of the band who also add other flavors from a range of traditional instruments.

Mariachi Flor de Toloache
Latin Grammy nominated female band Flor de Toloache continues to win the hearts of music fans, both mainstream and traditional mariachi fans alike, through their distinct visiohttp://www.mccallumtheatre.comn and enlightened interpretation of traditional mariachi instruments. The band's diverse ethnicities and musical backgrounds are transcending culture and gender by forging new paths for mariachi music.

Like the legendary Toloache flower used in Mexico today as a love potion, the ladies of Flor de Toloache cast a spell over their audiences with soaring vocals and physical elegance. The New York City based band and first all-women Mariachi, is led by co-directors Mireya I. Ramos, (founder) on violin and Shae Fiol (original member) on vihuela. The band also features Julie Acosta on trumpet and Eunice Aparicio on guitarron.

Accolades continue to build for Flor De Toloache. Nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Ranchera Album category for their self-produced debut album Mariachi Flor De Toloache, they have graced international stages from Asia to Europe and the U.S., recently supporting Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys new side-project, The Arcs. A promising career lies ahead for these graceful starlets.

Tickets for this performance of Dia de los Muertos LIVE, featuring La Santa Cecilia, Mexrrissey, and Mariachi Flor de Toloache on Saturday, October 28, at 8:00pm are priced at $67, $47, $37 and $27. Tickets are available at the Theatre's website at www.mccallumtheatre.com or by calling the McCallum Theatre Box Office at (760) 340-ARTS.

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