The iconic rock-pop group Los Lobos returns to Chicago for an eclectic “unplugged” concert on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 7pm, having last appeared at Symphony Center before a sold-out crowd in 2005. The evening begins with a set by the Canadian folk-funk quintet The Duhks in their Symphony Center debut.
The legendary Mexican-American five-piece ensemble Los Lobos is an instantly identifiable band that has assembled a diverse and captivating body of work—drawing equally on rock, country, Tex-Mex, folk, R&B, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music—over the course of 36 years together.
With three Grammy Awards to its name so far, Los Lobos is currently at work on its highly anticipated 18th album, a follow-up to The Town and The City. The new disc will be the group’s first release on the Shout! Factory label since joining its roster in June 2009.
Perhaps best known for the double-platinum record “La Bamba,” featured the 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic of the same name, Los Lobos came together in East Los Angeles in 1973 when multitalented singer-instrumentalists David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano were still in high school and playing souped-up Mexican folk music at parties.
Saxophonist Steve Berlin joined the group later, and they went on to redefine how and rock music could sound—Rolling Stone named the band Artist of the Year in 1984 (along with Bruce Springsteen).
Since then Los Lobos has released such groundbreaking records as the 1992 masterpiece Kiko, 1996’s Colossal Head and 2006’s The Town and The City, which London’s Daily Mirror called “an epic voyage through exotic Americana, sly funk and raw blues.”
On Los Lobos’ creative process, band member Steve Berlin comments, “With each project, we try to make our songwriting an artistic statement, where the stories we’re telling and the arrangements we’re composing get our point across. But to a certain extent, we make our songs opaque, serious. We leave it up to the listener to interpret … That’s the highest purpose of artists.” For this Chicago appearance on its 2009 tour, the band has traded their plugged instruments for guitarrones, jaranas and bajo sextos, providing a stunning set list full of acoustic verve.
The Duhks, a rootsy acoustic quintet of fiddle, guitar, banjo, percussion and vocals, based in Winnipeg, Ontario, has been making a name for itself in the past six years with their sharp ensemble playing and crisp solos.
With a self-described blended style of “gospel, Celtic, old-time, zydeco, country, Latin, French-Canadian and sheer rock and roll,” The Duhks have earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance and also have become known for their eco-conscious activism.
The group’s 2008 album, Fast-Paced World, shows off the powerhouse vocals of lead singer Sarah Dugas while shifting easily from pop to spirituals to bluegrass to Brazilian.
The Symphony Center Presents series continues its season with additional classical, pop and world-music presentations this fall and winter, including Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (Oct. 4), “Hallowed Haunts” with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (Oct. 24), Sweet Honey in the Rock (Nov. 15), Vienna Boys Choir (Nov. 28), Chanticleer (Dec. 7-8), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass (Dec. 17) and An Acoustic Evening with the BoDeans (Jan. 30).
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