Son del Otro Lado (2009) — La Tuza's debut album

Full track listing

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Liner notes

La Tuza plays the sound from the other side—el son del otro lado, as you would say en español. But the other side of what, you may ask? Not the far side of the moon, no, but the far side of Africa, the far side of the Caribbean. The word son means “sound”, as in sonido, but here it can be interpreted to also mean song, and dance, too: of the people and by the people. The son is the son of Africa and of Cuba—a sound baked by the sun and blown across the tropics, shipped by siroccos and delivered by hurricanes. From the Ivory Coast to the Gulf Coast, it melded in the Mexico that was home to the indigenous Huastecos, the Mayans, and the Aztecs. The son huasteco is the traditional sound in the rainforests and mountains of the northeast; continue traveling south to Veracruz, where the raucous and bawdy son jarocho fuels the weddings and festivals (the ever popular song “La Bamba” began its life in this region). From there, head toward the Pacific, at the geographic point where Mexico is at its narrowest, and the son calentano is heard in the Tierra Caliente of Guerrero and Michoacan, a hot sound from a hot region. These are songs inflamed by firewater—the scorching aguardiente—overproof fermented sugar cane juice which can atomize the heat and humidity of the zone (if not the borracho himself! )—and of pulque, tequila’s unrefined cousin. The frenetic melodies on the violin (which came to Spain with the Gypsies from the Orient; you can hear the intervals of the East in the tunes) mix with the rhythms of the chordophones (the guitar, the ukelele-like jaranas, the huapanguera, leona, and requinto) and the beat boxes—the cajón, the pandero, the quijada (yes, the jaw of an ass)—where you’ll hear echoes of flamenco and of rumba.

As the sound moved across oceans and settled in the New World, now it has emigrated North Of The Border. The players of La Tuza arrived in Boston from Missouri, Texas and Arizona, and are acquainting audiences around the Northeastern US, and now beyond, to the son of central Mexico. Even if you don’t speak the language, the meaning will be conveyed by the music. This is the sound of a party, the sound of the fiesta—not the siesta! The sones from another side of Mexico, the sound from the other side.

- Hermano Cleve