Taj Mahal & David Hidalgo | American Horizon (Coming Nov. 3rd, 2009)

Legendary Bluesman and Los Lobos co-frontman join Bay Area roots group to craft an album of labor, love and the American Dream

OAKLAND,
Calif. — Blues legend Taj Mahal and master
guitarist/multi-instrumentalist David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) have
collaborated with Mexican-American roots group Los Cenzontles
(pronounced los senn-sont-less) to tell a timely story of hope,
struggle and gratitude of the American worker. Traversing traditional
Mexican, blues, cumbia and psychedelic rock styles, they create a
distinctive, fresh and exciting sound. The November 3 release will be
distributed through ADA Distribution.

Taj Mahal is one of the
most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and
roots music and a two-time Grammy winner. Starting his career more than
four decades ago with American blues, he has broadened his artistic
scope over the years to include music representing virtually every
corner of the world — western Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America,
Europe and the Hawaiian Islands. In American Horizon, Taj explores the
deep connections between his own cultural roots and those of Mexican
American traditions.

Best known for his work with three-time
Grammy winners Los Lobos, David Hidalgo has a musical trajectory that
is broad and deep. As songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, accordionist and
keyboardist he has delved into rock, traditional and experimental
styles. His productions reflect the intimacy and creativity of Latino
music and its place in the American cultural landscape.

Los
Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds) are a group of musicians deeply bonded to
folk roots while incorporating other styles and genres into their
music. With fluid harmonies by Lucina Rodriguez, Fabiola Trujillo and
Hugo Arroyo they incorporate a sound of California into everything they
record. Their first collaboration with David Hidalgo in 2008, Songs of
Wood & Steel, brought the group wider recognition from the press.
Vintage Guitar magazine said, “The group has created an album that
seamlessly incorporates rock and blues elements into traditional
Mexican forms, smacking of neither academia nor compromise.”

On
American Horizon, Los Cenzontles, David Hidalgo and Taj Mahal share
composing credits on this groundbreaking bilingual release. Los
Cenzontles founder Eugene Rodriguez served as producer with Hidalgo. He
and Hidalgo met when Rodriguez produced Los Lobos’ 1995 children’s
album Papa’s Dream, which was nominated for a Grammy.

Los
Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds) evolved out of the Los Cenzontles Mexican
Arts Center, a community cultural center founded in San Pablo by Eugene
Rodriguez in 1989. An innovative group of musicians and dancers that
amplifies the roots of Mexican culture, they are led by Rodriguez, who
has been schooling them in arcane Mexican folk music styles since their
youths. Through numerous CDs and DVD documentaries, Los Cenzontles adds
an essential voice to the global conversation among cultural
traditions, attracting collaborations with internationally recognized
artists like Linda Ronstadt, the Chieftains, Ry Cooder and others. The
Chieftains’ Paddy Moloney said, “Meeting Los Cenzontles was just like
meeting a medieval clan of wonderful musicians from the West Coast of
Ireland. The fusion of their music with ours was something that just
had to happen. It was inevitable.” And Ronstadt enthused, “Los
Cenzontles’ gutsy rhythms and delightful voices reinvigorated my love
of Mexican music.”