Kickstarter

Who We Are
Los Cenzontles is a band, a nonprofit organization, a music academy, a community space for youth and families, and a hub for Latino artists – all working in tandem to amplify our Mexican roots here in the Bay Area and beyond. 

NPR has called our Center a “little factory of culture” and its true! In our 20 years of existence, we have produced 20 records – collaborating with many wonderful Mexican roots musicians as well as artists such as Linda Ronstadt, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, The Chieftains, and many more. We teach classes to hundreds of local youth in traditional Mexican music, dance, and arts and crafts. We host community events from Las Posadas and Dia del Nino to recitals and fandangos. Our Center is a little known gem to many people, but to our community we are a second home, an arts hub and a long-standing leader in the Mexican roots revival. 

What We Are Doing
The Los Cenzontles band has embarked on an adventurous new album we call Regeneration. Joined by our friends David Hidalgo, Jackson Browne, Elvin Bishop, Pete Sears, Cougar Estrada, Raul Malo, Carlos Caro, Shira Kammen, Peter Maund, and our homegrown team of artists, ages 14 and up, we have created a project of fun, inspiration, and love!
 
Regeneration celebrates the emerging Latino boom generation by fusing Mexican roots music with sounds from the late 60s and early 70s – when the last major generational shift occurred. The music is rooted in Mexican sounds and rhythms, yet layers on contemporary pop sounds. It is forward thinking and reflective, it is provocative and playful, and overall, it is a timely, poignant, and musically excellent work of art. 

Linda Ronstadt, our friend and mentor, agrees!
“Los Cenzontles and David Hidalgo are creating new and powerful sounds expressing the dignity and beauty of Mexican American culture which continues to evolve and flower from deep roots. The rhythms, instrumentation and lyrics of their compositions achieve the rare and invaluable distinction of capturing cultural transition in real time. Please join me in supporting this dynamic project.” Linda Ronstadt    

We Need You!
We’ve spent the last 6 months pouring ourselves artistically into this project. Now, we need help paying for post-production so we can get this music out to the world! And that’s where you come in. Whether you are a roots lover or Mexican music fan, a champion of high-quality arts education for children, or simply curious about our sound or our mission, please consider supporting our project on Kickstarter. We have some wonderful incentives, including advanced access to the album, access to bonus tracks, all sorts of Los Cenzontles swag, and no matter the level, all backers get exclusive updates about our progress and behind the scenes video footage and photos of the recording process!
 
So please join us! Proceeds we make from the album will go right back into our arts center, so that we can continue supporting the growing Latino youth in our community through music and arts education. Thank you for your consideration!
 
PS- Since we are a 501(c)3, any financial support you give is tax deductible as allowed by law.