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Los Jappenin' Jarochos The band started when, several years ago, Mario Barrera, Chris Gonzalez Clarke and Russell Rodriguez began playing together at fellow musician Eduardo Robledo's home in San Jose. These Tuesday night sessions were devoted to exploring their common interest in Mexican and Cuban folk music.The informal group played son Jarocho, Cuban sones, danzones, boleros, and some polkas norteñas to their sole delight. After a half year of these weekly living room sessions, the group (now dubbed Los Jappenin' Jarochos) played a backyard party at the same house for dozens of unbiased friends, family members and a half-cooked pig, who loved their range and raw energy. The afternoon turned into evening, friends joined the jam session, and a few electric instruments were plugged in. As the happy crowd danced into the night, a few of the future-Otros founders throught to themselves "hey, I wonder if we can get paid to do this?" The band was developingStill in seach of their first paycheck, Los Jappenin' Jarochos refined their repertoire and arrangements and began to take casual gigs, playing receptions, weddings and the like. While the early performances consisted entirely of traditional acoustic music, during their rehearsals (now moved to a secret location affectionately known as the icebox) the band was developing a set of electric-based original and cover tunes, and would occasionally tear through a cumbia medley or blues ranchera to the horror of their fans. In early 1998, after a triumphant tour of Stanford's coffeehouse, they went public with a series of dates at the famed San Jose Ibex club. Changing its frequently mispronounced name to Los Otros, through a secret ballot of its fan club, the band amazed its audience with an entire electric set including a few original numbers. The original Otros lineup, which included Charlie Montoya and Eduardo Robledo, was whittled down to its recording group through a grueling five-day musical boot camp in the wilds of Monterey. Eighteen-hour sessions of recording, writing and arranging original music culminated in a 30-hour marathon session during which a four song demo recording was completed. Radio Chón On the strength of the demo and a series of well-received spring shows, the members of Los Otros decided to take an important leap and dedicate themselves full time to the Radio Chón project in 1998. As they continued to work their original material, playing local clubs like San Jose's Fuel, Los Otros received a surprise invitation from Jackson Browne to join him and Emmylou Harris for a show at Santa Barbara's County Bowl. Browne's management had received Los Otros' demo from a mutual friend who recommended them for the concert. The Santa Barbara crowd dug Los Otros' original set, which ended with a rousing ovation. The success of the show led to another invitation from Jackson to join him for two shows in Santa Cruz with Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby. After barging into the dressing room to serenade Bonnie backstage, Los Otros apparently won her heart as she listened intently from the side of the stage to their opening set.During the fall of 1998 the band also made connections with Quetzal, East LA Sabor Factory, Blues Experiment, Ozomatli and other LA-based Chicano Groove bands. A few high energy shows in Northern California with Quetzal cemented Los Otros' place in this emerging scene and introduced bay area audiences to an exciting new sound. Cesar Rosas A late 1998 show with Los Lobos was the band's performance highlight. After a couple of phantom shows that were advertised and never happened, expectations were high for the Santa Cruz show. Los Otros took the stage before a sold out Catalyst crowd performing a tight one hour set. More importantly, the band made musical connections that led to their collaboration with Cesar Rosas who produced and recorded their debut CD, Radio Chón, in his home studio. The recording of Radio Chón during March of 1999 in Rosas' studio put the final stamp on the development of Los Otros' sound; a rootsy mixture of Latin folkloric music and American rock. Cesar's production cut to the heart of Los Otros' songs in two 4-day recording sessions at CRG Studios in Rowland Heights. Rosas' and the bands' common love of Mexican folk music.While continuing to play regularly, primarily in Northern California clubs, Los Otros made their first significant venture outside of their home terrritory accompanying Los Lobos on a tour of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and southern California that coincided with the release of their CD late in the summer of 1999. In October 2000 the group joined Quetzal and Culture Clash in an opening pocho-stravaganza for the Los Lobos concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The rave response they received from the Lobos' crowds was punctuated by great fan reviews on the Lobos site and a Rolling Stone Magazine review that called Los Otros "Chicano rock heroes."Radio Chón is a sonic adventure. Tune in. Copyright © 2002 Los Otros Son del Barrio || About Us || Los Otros || Radio Chón || Latest News
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