Don Palabraz

{Photo credit: Carla Zarate}

La Santa Cecilia, a vibrant and promising band from Los Angeles known for its irresistible mastering of Latin music’s most danceable genres, made its first foray into Orange County back in November 2008 as part of the “Frida Festival” in Santa Ana. El Centro Cultural de Mexico in conjunction with other local organizations hosted the event that featured vendors selling all things Frida and the English/Spanish lectures of renowned speaker Gregorio Luke on the Mexican artist. Before delivering his evening talk in English, the six piece band took to the stage of a large auditorium in the city’s Fiesta Marketplace to open for Luke as hundreds of people streamed through the doors. At that point, La Santa Cecilia had been largely unknown to the Latino audiences of Orange County. After the band delivered an impressive five song set featuring tracks off their hand painted demo, the first conquista was had. Outside the venue, the band was meeting the demand for their CDs and speaking with those interested in bringing them back soon!

And so they returned. Weeks later, La Santa Cecilia opened for Pilar Diaz at the invitation of Santa Ana’s local Latina theater group Breath of Fire for its annual ‘Noche de Milagros’ fundraiser. The lineup had already been a potent one-two punch for LA Latinos checking out the solo efforts of the former Los Abandoned front woman in her workshop shows in Echo Park. That evening, OC had its second taste of the band’s intoxicating spirit and more fans were conquered. A year would pass before La Santa Cecilia would return to Santa Ana. In that time, the spaceless Latino youth of OC would trek en masse to downtown Los Angeles to catch the band performing at Mucho Wednesdays at La Cita. Their first gig back in Santa Ana last year would come not a moment too soon in November for an open-air world music street festival near the Fiesta Marketplace. The audience was cross-generational and many did not know what to expect from the band of jovenes setting up their congas, drums, upright bass, and guitar. It was essentially a replay of their Frida Festival experience. Accordion notes opened their norteña song “Chicle” as young and old danced on the closed streets of Santa Ana. Another instant conquest.

Much as in 2008, La Santa Cecilia would not keep its growing audiences waiting too long. Breath of Fire’s annual fundraiser came calling weeks later. The demand for the band was high and they obliged, only this time as the headliners. Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly penned a feature on La Santa Cecilia ahead of the gig giving them more print exposure than they had enjoyed in the pages of the LA Weekly despite being a more prominent fixture in the music scene of the widespread metropolis to our north. That evening of the fundraiser show, hundreds of supporters of both the band and the community theater group packed the 511 space in Santa Ana where the event was held. From the first song, the baile de la conquista was on once more satiating an appetite that had developed for seconds! Familiar chants of otra! otra! persuaded the band to extend the evening for one more song – an interesting musical take on the classic “Moliendo Cafe.”

Having forged a bond with the city’s non-profit hustlers, the members of La Santa Cecilia set their eyes next on a Valentine’s show with local fixtures Taller Sur. This time, the tandem of community musicians would be the sole attraction and focus at the 511 space. On Saturday night, couples and singles came in droves to enjoy the music of the two bands. The setlist turned in by LSC later in the evening featured recognizable songs off their demo like “Jack” and “El Farol” but on this occasion they were the exception. New material and interesting covers such as the Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” mixed with the flavors of ska illustrated the band’s sonic evolution and growth. The musical masses predictably danced once more only this time La Santa Cecilia’s audience had seemingly branched out beyond the humble seeds that were planted back in November 2008. On the eve of Valentine’s Day, the spaceless Latino youth of OC enjoyed another night of music with a band their primos in LA have had the privilage of dancing to all too often!