[ad_1]
Holding a fundraiser in a funeral home might not seem like a recipe for joy — or longevity. But after more than four decades, the Encuentro del Canto Popular continues to thrive as one of the region’s signature Latin music events. Launched as a one-off in 1982 by a young attorney named Bill Martinez and Juan Gonzalez — founder of the Mission newspaper El Tecolote — the first six-act program took place in the chapel of what was then Halsted & Co. Funeral Directors on Valencia Street.
Over the years, the annual event has presented some of Latin American music’s most illustrious stars at venues around the city. But on Sunday, Dec. 8, the 43rd annual Encuentro returns to the same location where it started — which is now the music venue known as The Chapel.
A fundraiser for the arts organization Acción Latina, the quadruple bill is headlined by La Doña, one of the brightest lights to emerge from the Mission scene in recent years. A multi-instrumentalist, activist and educator known off stage as Cecilia Cassandra Peña-Govea, she’s forged a sensuous femmetón sound that blends folkloric Mexican idioms like corrido, cumbia, and mariachi with contemporary beats. And in a delicious twist, her band includes her father, accordionist, trumpeter and vocalist Miguel Govea, who played the first Encuentro in 1982 with Los Peludos, a nuevo cancion-inspired trio that was a staple at protests and community events.
“It was such an emotional night,” recalls Martinez of that first event. “We felt so empowered by this musical expression. The bad news with doing concerts as fundraisers is that mainly you don’t make a lot of money. It wasn’t successful as a fundraiser, but it was in terms of creating a home for this music.”
The upcoming evening’s bill also includes an opening set by incantatory Puerto Rican harpist, composer and vocalist María José Montijo, who’s celebrating the release of her bomba-powered debut album Esotérica Tropical. Then there’s the alt-Latin collective Inti Mystica, a group that mixes Caribbean grooves with hip-hop, rock and electronic beats, and Bululú, a predominantly female group led by Venezuelan-born percussionist Lali Mejia that draws on folkloric styles from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and other Caribbean cultures. Led by bassist and music director Ayla Davila, the group features a stellar cast of players, including Salvadoran-American keyboardist Ruthie Dineen, trombonist Mara Fox, and Puerto Rican-born, Dominican-raised vocalist Sofia Magdalena.
For Martinez, who has long been regarded as one of the nation’s leading experts in procuring visas for international artists, the stylistic breadth of the Encuentro “was inspired by Bill Graham, the way he brought together an array of music to create a community,” he says. Martinez curated this year’s program with Fátima Ramirez and Rebeca Abidaíl Flores, and he says its eclecticism is intentional.
“We’ve always had a cross-section of music from Chile, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico,” he says. “All the different genres within the arcoiris — the rainbow.”
The Encuentro del Canto Popular kicks off at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8 at The Chapel, 777 Valencia St. Tickets ($50) and more info here.
[ad_2]
Source: missionlocal.org