Quetzal is a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

( Spanish- English) Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California.

History

The band was founded by Quetzal Flores in 1993 in a Chicano owned cafe, Troy cafe, in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Martha Gonzalez Martha Sulay Gonzalez (1971 – June 11, 2007) was a Colombian woman whose case instigated reforms on the strict abortion law in Colombia. In 2005, Gonzalez fell pregnant with her fourth child. A gynecological examination showed that she had uter ...

joined the group in 1995. They helped start the Seattle Fandango Project in 2009 when Martha Gonzalez moved to Seattle to complete her PhD in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington."Martha Gonzalez - Chicana Artivista." MarthaGonzaleznet RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2014. Quetzal is an ensemble of musicians, joined for the goal of creating good music that tells the social, cultural, political, and musical stories of people in struggle.

, the band's lead singer, percussionist, and songwriter, calls it an “East LA Chican@ rock group,” summing up its roots in the complex cultural currents of life in the barrio, its social activism, its strong feminist stance, and its rock and roll musical beginnings.

Music style

Quetzal plays a mix of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

and Afro-Cuban rhythms, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music. Inspired by the

Zapatistas Zapatista(s) may refer to: * Liberation Army of the South The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolut ...

, they incorporate fandango and san jarocho in their music. In 1992, Chicano rock guitarist Quetzal Flores discovered the burgeoning revival of traditional music of Veracruz called son jarocho which is born from a community fiesta called a fandango. Quetzal Flores described the community of fandango in the L.A. area as a necessary practice because "I think it's because as human beings we are kind of lacking this sort of connection, like these one-on-one connections in this high tech world." Flores incorporated san jarocho and fandango into his own music style, which is influenced by The Smiths, Ruben Blades, Stevie Wonder, and others. Flores’s approach to music was also influenced by the East L.A. musical scene of Mexican musica ranchera, salsa, Chicano Rock, R&B, and international popular music. Raised in a family of social activists, he saw music as a means to work for social justice as well as a form of creative expression. For the band, music expresses the ultimate struggle for dignity.

Career

Quetzal was featured in the soundtrack to the 2004 short film '' Stand Up For Justice: The Ralph Lazo Story.'' In 2013, the band won a Grammy for

Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album The Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the latin pop, ...

. Martha Gonzalez and Quetzal Flores are co-producers of ''Entre Mujeres,'' a CD released in 2012. The band was invited to speak and perform in the U.S. Library of Congress and Kennedy Center's Homegrown music series. The Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit "American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music" feature Quetzal as leaders and innovators of Chicano music. Smithsonian Folkways label released the 2013 Grammy-winning CD ''Imaginaries'', marking the importance of Gonzalez's past and ongoing work. They have also been instrumental in developing

Fandango Sin Fronteras Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has a ...

, a dialog between Chicanos and Chicanas from California and jarochos-musicians who play the Veracruz style. Quetzal's work has been the subject of a range of publications, including dissertations, scholarly books, and newspaper articles, most notably

Patricia Zavella Patricia Zavella is an anthropologist and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the Latin American and Latino Studies department. She has spent a career advancing Latina and Chicana feminism through her scholarship, teaching, an ...

's ''I'm Neither Here Nor There: Mexicans' Quotidian Struggles with Migration and Poverty''.

Album: ''Imaginaries''

''Imaginaries'' refers to scholar Emma Pérez's book, ''The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History''. To the band it's about creating and occupying a physical and conceptual space outside the established structures of capitalism and government. It's a safe space created by neighbors, or musicians, or artists, or kids, or adults, or viejitos, or a combination of any of these. They're inspired to create community around music, a communion where the listener is as much musician as the people on the stage holding the instruments. Quetzal won the Grammy for Latin rock, urban or alternative album for its release ''Imaginaries'' (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings), a foray into cumbia, neo-'80s-style R&B, Cuban charanga and Brazilian pandeiro, charged with the band's collectivist political passion. It is the band's first Grammy. On ''Imaginaries'', they combined the traditional son jarocho of Veracruz, salsa, R&B, and more to express the political and social struggle for self-determination and self-representation, which ultimately is a struggle for dignity. The albim had 12 tracks, 55 minutes, 40-page booklet with bilingual notes. This album is part of the Smithsonian Folkways Tradiciones/Traditions series of Latino music albums, produced with support by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Line-up

Current band members

* Martha Gonzalez — lead and backing vocals,

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

, chekere, tarima, cajon, tap dance,

jarana A jarana is a guitar-like string instrument from Mexico. There are different regional versions of the jarana, notably: * Jarana huasteca, string instrument of the Huastec region, Mexico * Jarana jarocha, string instrument of Veracruz, Mexico * Ja ...

* Tylana Enomoto — backing vocals, violin * Juan Perez — electric bass,

baby bass Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers. Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michael-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group. Although ...

, double bass * Quetzal Flores — jarana jarocha, requinto jarocho, bajo sexto, electric and acoustic guitars * Quincy McCrary — lead and backing vocals,

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, Hammond B3,

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Alberto Lopez — percussion

Former band members

*Gabriel Tenorio *Gabriel Gonzalez *Daphne Chen *Kiko Cornejo Jr. *Dante Pascuzzo *Edson Gianesi *Danilo Torres *Camilo Landau *Rocio Marron *Ray Sandoval *Yunior Terry *Lilia Hernandez *Ruben Gomez *Maceo Hernandez *Robert Guerrero *Anton Morales *E Anthony Martinez

Discography

;Solo albums *1998: ''Quetzal'' (produced by John Avila) *2002: ''Sing The Real'' (produced by

Greg Landau Greg Landau is an American, San Francisco-based record and video producer, and an instructor of music and Latin American Studies focused on the social movements that produced revolutionary music and art. He has produced eight Grammy nominated recor ...

) *2003: ''Worksongs'' (produced by Steve Berlin) *2006: ''Die Cowboy Die'' (produced by John Avila) *2012: ''Imaginaries'' (Produced by Quetzal Flores)

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

*2014: ''Quetzanimales'' *2017: ''The Eternal Getdown''

*2021: ''Puentes Sonoros''

;Compilation albums *''A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd'' (features Quetzal covering

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's song " Mother")

References

External links

Official Quetzal Website

Quetzal on Instagram

Entre Mujeres

Women Who Rock homepage
{{Authority control Rock music groups from California Latin music groups Latin American music Chicano rock musicians Mexican-American culture in Los Angeles Grammy Award winners