Las Caféteras to Perform at Cotuit Center for the Arts

Las Caféteras, a multi-genre roots-based band from East Los Angeles, will perform Saturday, June 9, at 7:30 PM, at Cotuit Center for the Arts.

The Los Angeles Times described Las Caféteras as “magnetic,” playing a “uniquely Angeleno mishmash of punk, hip-hop, beat music, cumbia, and rock.” Their music fuses spoken word and folk music with traditional Son Jarocho music, Afro-Mexican music, and zapateado dancing, while delivering a positive message. Singing in English, Spanish, and Spanglish, they use music to build bridges among different cultures and communities and create “a world where many worlds fit.”

Members of the band, born in this country of Mexican immigrant parents, originally came together 13 years ago over their shared political commitments. At the East Side Café, they studied traditional Son Jarocho Afro-Mexican folk music from Veracruz, Mexico and learned to play the jarana (a compact guitar-like instrument), requinto (a small guitar with a higher pitch than a standard guitar), quijada (donkey jawbone), tarima (a wooden platform that serves as a rhythm instrument), and other traditional instruments.

They soon created a vibrant sound all their own. With Afro-Mexican beats, rhythms, and rhymes, they sing inspiring stories of a community seeking love and justice. When it came time to choose a name for the group, Las Caféteras was a natural, honoring the place where they came together and frequently performed.

Las Caféteras has played with such bands as Mexican icons Caifanes, Lila Downs, Colombian superstar Juanes, Los Angeles legends Ozomatli, folk/indie favorites Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and most recently with Talib Kweli.

The group also conducts workshops across the country on the issues they sing about: racism, gender inequality, cultural oppression, and other concerns.

Tickets are $35, $30 for balcony seating. There is a $2 discount for seniors and veterans, and a $5 discount for members. For more information and to purchase tickets visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit.

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What:

Las Caféteras

Where:

Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When:

Saturday, June 9, 7:30 PM

Admission:

$35. $30 for balcony seating. There is a $2 discount for seniors and veterans, and a $5 discount for members

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