REVIEWS
“Los Cenzontles performed a fantastic concert at Mills College of music that was at once inspiring, interactive, and educational. The music they performed revealed the traditions of Mexican music to be connected to that which is most commonly heard in California, but also different, and far richer in its history and character. Their research into the origins of those traditions takes concrete form since they bring master musicians, who may be some of the only remaining practitioners of their styles, to teach their music to the group, and perform with them on stage. The rapport between these older and younger musicians was audible, and visible, on stage, and the audience is able to witness the transfer of a precious musical legacy from one generation to another.
Los Cenzontles is at once an exquisite performing group, and an organization with valuable roots in its own community. Its musicians are drawn largely from youth of the San Francisco East Bay, and their musical training is primarily learned by their participation in the group. But their performance standards are anything but amateur -- rather, they project a rapport and a sensitivity to ensemble sound that can only come from long hours working together. Their music expresses both discipline and joy.”
- Chris Brown, Professor of Music, Mills College, Oakland, California
“Eugene Rodriguez and the people at Los Cenzontles are working hard to preserve traditional Mexican music, teaching their grandparents' songs and dances to a new generation.”
"Los Cenzontles brings traditional music into the modern age. The real deal - living culture."
- Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/5/06
"Los Cenzontles has reinvigorated my love of Mexican music with their unique and refreshing glimpse into our rich traditions... lovely costumes, hearty rhythms and delightful vocals."
- Linda Ronstadt
“Los Cenzontles’ performance presents audiences with a unique view into the cultural soul of Mexican Americans. Their expressive energy fluidly embraces authentic, traditional Mexican music and dance blended with a warm creativity that reflects their own experiences in American culture.”
- Gina Gamboa, Chicago Children’s Museum
“As a group Los Cenzontles has developed into one of the region’s cultural treasures...”
- Andrew Gilbert, Contra Costa Times
“Los Cenzontles is the real thing.”
- Larry Kelp, East Bay Express
"Fabiola and Lucina have become a powerhouse duet who sing with feeling, gusto and expression. I never tire of listening to them!"
- Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie Records, NEA Fellow
"Los Cenzontles’ tireless research into Mexico’s rich and little-known traditions has created a prolific recording catalog that is a national treasure. They are an incredible bridge which connects the music of the past to the hopes and dreams of the future. When it comes to making old songs come alive for the new generations, they are my main inspiration."
- Dan Zanes, Grammy Award-winning recording artist
“These musicians celebrate a great moment in Mexico's past by remembering it, learning from it, and making it their own. That's attitude.”
- Hiya Swanhuyser, San Francisco Weekly
"While Mexican bandas can have as many as 20 members, Los Cenzontles didn't need much more than a tuba, a trumpet, a thudding bass drum and a pair of clarinets to turn the club into a raucous cantina."
- Josh Kun, The New York Times
“An astute contemporary interpretation of folk songs and dances that confirms the maturation of one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading voices. Lovely vocal harmonies, understated traditional instrumentation, a repertoire stretching from Aztlan to Veracruz to Cuba to Colombia, sharp percussion blended with some sharply-executed zapateado footwork, and outstanding turns on reeds and violin.”
- Folk Roots Magazine
“Dispensing with the dramatic flourishes of the large brass mariachi ensembles that today dominate the genre, [Los Cenzontles] holds out the promise of a revitalized form of cultural expression attuned to the trans-frontier social realities of Mexican-descent peoples in the contemporary United States.”
- Roots World
"...keeps the rootsy spirit of the rural mariachi alive, played with passion and artistry."
- Sing Out Magazine
“The music Los Cenzontles plays is not the typical three-trumpet sort. The sounds of the Richmond-based group are less strident, kinder, like a creek flowing down a gentle meadow. It’s music of the earth, nourishing and satisfying without complications.”
- Nuevo Mundo, San Jose Mercury News
“Unique in its unvarnished folk style, Los Cenzontles with Julian González should satisfy the most demanding of purists, offering the listener a taste of the mariachi as it sounded in the era before commercialization. In all of these songs, a fresh, zestful and "down-home" enthusiasm prevails, one that we seldom hear in garden-variety commercial mariachis... In a world marked by increasing standardization, Los Cenzontles "urform" sounds represent a unique musical experience. And, while their excursion into the mariachi world of yesterday may seem quixotic, it is refreshing to hear, at least once more, mariachi music as it once flourished. Cultural purists, rejoice!”
- Manuel Peña, Ph.D., California State University Fresno
"Many such folkoric ensembles sound quaint and stale, but under the guidance of musical director Eugene Rodriguez, Los Cenzontles… take a lively Catholic approach to Mexico’s various folk forms.”
- Chicago Reader
“I recently attended a Los Cenzontles presentation at Boise State University. I was so touched by the music and dance...The presentation I witnessed was wonderful and made me feel proud of who I am. [Los Cenzontles] must surely realize what [they] do touches many peoples' lives in a positive way.”
- Alberto Ramirez, Boise, Idaho - October, 2005
“Arriba Los Cenzontles!”
- Lalo Guerrero
“Los Cenzontles is not just a vital organization for the Latino Community of the East Bay. They are also an example of how our communities can make positive changes while preserving and infusing our musical and cultural traditions.”
- Louie Perez of Los Lobos
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