La Santa Cecilia

Los Angeles-based La Santa Cecilia is a “new thing” Latin rock group that draws musical inspiration from across the globe, utilizing Pan-American rhythms from Colombian and Mexican cumbia, bossa nova, rhumba, bolero, and tango and marrying them to rock, soul, R&B, ska, jazz, and even klezmer. The children of immigrants, their acclaimed 2013 debut album, Treinta Dias, offered an uptempo yet intensely personal view of Latino life, and delivered the hit single “Ice el Hielo” — which became an anthem for the 14 million undocumented denizens of the U.S. and paved the way for the band to win a Grammy for Best Latin Rock Album. In 2017, La Santa Cecilia issued Amar y Vivir, an audio-visual album comprised of covers. The set was recorded live to tape on streets, in plazas, cantinas, and theaters around Mexico City. 2019’s eponymously titled mini-album was recorded in tribute to three of the bandmembers’ fathers, who had passed away in the previous 18 months. Its closing track is a cover of the Bessie Smith blues standard “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” Two years later, La Santa Cecilia issued Quiero Verte Feliz. Its title track was recorded in collaboration with singer/songwriter Lila Downs.