Thursday, May 04, 2006
Michael Ramos aka Charanga Cakewalk came through Los Angeles recently while on tour with Lila Downs and did a special one-off show at the Conga Room for fans, industry and of course the obligatory hot latin girls and boys anxiously waiting for the floor to open to commence the ceremonial dancing of the dirty.
Really quite pleased we got out for this show, which also served as the CD release show of his new terrific album Chicano Zen. It was initially brought to our attention when we heard past Ramos collaborator Patty Griffin sings on it ("No Soy Feliz"). But that's not even the best song on the album. Martha Gonzalez (from one of our favorite local bandas Quetzal) is also on a few tracks ("Vida Magica", "La Corriente"), not to mention Lila Downs ("La Miga Hermiga", "Chicano Zen") and David Garza ("La Mimosa"). Gonzalez joined the band for several songs.
Look for Ramos to return to Los Angeles in the near future. And look for us to be nowhere near a dance floor during salsa night.
Charanga Cakewalk - "La Mimosa" (MP3)
from Chicano Zen (2006)
Charanga Cakewalk - "El Indio" (MP3)
from Loteria del la Cumbia Lounge (2004)
