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westernartgirlOscar Hernández Looks Back on a Lifelong Friendship With Rubén Blades
Oscar Hernández, leader of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and former pianist and musical director for Rubén Blades, is a New York soul now making his home in Los Angeles. “I got divorced and I got remarried,” Hernández said. “And my wife was living here, so I was kind of at a crossroads in my life … Read more
From Costa Rica With Love: Chino Espinoza
Mirley Espinoza, known as El Chino, appears quite at home when he shows up in T-shirt and distressed, tailored jeans for his regular Friday night gig at the outlandishly posh Coco Palm Restaurant in Pomona. Patrons shake his hand, waiters pat his shoulder or wave, the club manager touches base with him before he goes … Read more
Music as Work and Life: Susie Hansen
Susie Hansen comes from musical stock. Her father, James Hansen, her first and main music teacher, was a violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 37 years. Hansen began taking lessons from him at age 5. So you’d think, given all that training, that Hansen would have followed in his classical steps to build a … Read more
Teaching Salsa Between Sets
When the Thursday Sizzling Summer Nights headliner band at the Autry is about ready for a break, that’s when Trish Connery steps into the spotlight. She’s the feisty lady you see with the microphone in the middle of the dance floor, bantering with diva dancers and cajoling salsa beginners as they learn to trip the … Read more
Eddy Ortiz, an Adopted Son of Salsa
Eddy Ortiz didn’t grow up listening to salsa music. He was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, where the prevailing sound leans more to mariachi than son. But Ortiz, whose Son Mayor Orchestra plays the Autry on Thursday, July 21, learned early to respect Cuban music and its history. “Cuban music is so vast,” Ortiz told me … Read more
Johnny Polanco Watches Salsa Come of Age in Los Angeles
Johnny Polanco wears the beads of several orishas, the deities of his santería religion, around his neck when he goes onstage to play salsa music with his Conjunto Amistad. There are the red and white beads of Changó, the ruler of thunder, drums and dance, but he also wears the colors of Orula, Elegguá, Obbatalá, … Read more
