Los Lobos

I'm sorry Calendar decided to highlight the quote from the Cal State L.A. student who finds that Los Lobos' success was attained "in spite" of their race ("The American Dream Lives in Los Lobos," by Victor Valle, Jan. 25). It'd be more correct to say that in spite of the great obstacles placed before talented and dedicated non-Anglos, this band from East L.A. has fused the wonderful "happy" Mexican music with country, rock 'n' roll and blues to develop a really enjoyable sound.

Recently signed to the Universal label, La Santa Cecilia this year released its first single off the new album "El Hielo (Ice)," a deceptively easygoing bossa nova-infused tune that personalizes the plight of undocumented migrants. The plaintive ballad draws on the experiences of some of the band members, all children of Latin American immigrants. The band will perform at the annual Los Lobos Cinco de Mayo festival at the Greek Theatre on a bill headlined by the iconic East L.A. rock group that also includes Los Super 7, Willie G of Thee Midniters, Kinky, Robert Randolph and El Chicano.

FAMILY Debi Derryberry The successful voice-over artist is best known as the voice of Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron. But her first love is music: She wrote her first children's song, "My Dog's My Buddy," at the age of 9 and has been at it ever since. Families are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to this outdoor kids' concert. Levitt Pavilion Pasadena, 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena. 7 p.m. Free. (626) 683-3230. www.levittpavilionpasadena.org . POP MUSIC Jimmy Webb His compositions — including the ultimate breakup song, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" — have been recorded by Glen Campbell, the Supremes, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and R.E.M.

Evangeline is back, a bit older but she's still growing and changing. We're referring both to the character and the play of the same name based on the Los Lobos song “Evangeline,” which is from the band's 1984 album “How Will the Wolf Survive?” Last year “Evangeline - The Queen of Make Believe” had a three-week run at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles, the outcome of many previous months of workshops and small-scale presentations of the work created by Los Lobos' lyricist and band member Louie Perez with Theresa Chavez and Rose Portillo of the About Productions theater troupe.

Los Lobos dropped into the studios of KCRW-FM (89.9) in Santa Monica on Wednesday to revisit the veteran East L.A. roots-rock band's watershed 1992 album, “Kiko,” by playing it nearly in its entirety for a live radio and Web broadcast. The performance will be streamable on the public station's website . The album was recently reissued in expanded form, along with a video release of a 2006 live performance by the band. Speaking with KCRW music director Jason Bentley during his "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show, guitarist, singer, songwriter and accordionist David Hidalgo said the album helped the group reconnect with its central musical vision following the runaway commercial success it  experienced  from its participation in the Richie Valens biopic “La Bamba” in 1987.

Stately, cool-eyed David Hidalgo took his place at the front of the stage, cradling an electric guitar. "There's a few little problem children in this album," he told the audience at the Grammy Museum's Clive Davis Theater in downtown L.A. A trickle of laughter ran through the crowd. Then Hidalgo and his Los Lobos bandmates - guitarists Louie Pérez and Cesar Rosas, bassist Conrad Lozano, saxophone-keyboard player Steve Berlin and drummer Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez - hoisted their instruments and stroked the first notes of "Dream In Blue," a jaunty, sharply syncopated blues-rock tune that jitterbugs across a spooky, oddly exhilarating nightscape: PHOTOS: Celebrity photos by the Times "I flew around with shiny things/ And when I spoke, I seemed to sing/ High above - floating far away.

David Hidalgo stood on a concrete loading dock outside the tiny recording studio where he and the other members of Los Lobos were working feverishly on the final track for their new album, "Tin Can Trust." On this lovely spring afternoon, the band's beefy singer, guitarist, accordionist and composer soaked up the sights and sounds surrounding him in the East L.A. neighborhood where the roots-rock group had settled in to make its latest record. As the sun set, cars whizzed past, an ice cream truck trundled down the road playing a jingling version of Brahms' Lullaby and construction workers wrapped up their day at the demolition yard across the street.

Party La Bamba-style with Los Lobos on Friday in a charity concert and post-show celebration to benefit the Integrity House. The Fullerton-based nonprofit organization serves people with traumatic head injuries. Each year, more than 700,000 people in the United States experience some form of traumatic head injury. The event will be held from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Chapman University Memorial Hall, 333 N. Glassell St. in Orange. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Four guys from East L.A. trekked clear across town to throw a backyard barrio party at UCLA's stately Royce Hall on Friday night. They brought a boatload of instruments and sang their favorite Latin songs, just like the old days. The only thing missing was the carne asada and Coronas. Everybody knows them professionally as Los Lobos, L.A.'s greatest Chicano rock band for the last 30 years.

More than half a century has elapsed since Pacoima's own Ritchie Valens and Lubbock, Texas, native son Buddy Holly died in a small-plane crash with the Big Bopper and their pilot while touring the Midwest. But their legacy as two of rock 'n' roll's founding blood brothers rumbled on in Sunday night's Greek Theatre double bill of Chicano elder statesmen Los Lobos and Tex-Mex blues belters Los Lonely Boys. Suave and stately as a '64 Impala lowrider, Los Lobos closed its rich, retrospective set with "La Bamba," the traditional son jarocho folk tune that Valens transformed into a Top 40 classic by injecting a rock beat.

Los Lobos, Carly Rae Jepsen, a symphonic tribute to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, Diana Krall and a complete performance of English prog-rock band Jethro Tull's “Thick as a Brick” Parts 1 and 2 by the  band's frontman Ian Anderson highlight the Greek Theatre's 2013 season, venue officials announced today. Meanwhile at the Gibson Amphitheatre, an Alice Cooper-Marilyn Manson shock-rock double bill,  Gloria Trevi, Ramon Ayala, Il Volo, Lila Downs, Pepe Aguilar and the Brian Setzer Orchestra top the new season's offerings, all of which become available March 8 to members of the amphitheaters' joint subscription program, the Premiere Marquee Club (PMC)

Stately, cool-eyed David Hidalgo took his place at the front of the stage, cradling an electric guitar. "There's a few little problem children in this album," he told the audience at the Grammy Museum's Clive Davis Theater in downtown L.A. A trickle of laughter ran through the crowd. Then Hidalgo and his Los Lobos bandmates - guitarists Louie Pérez and Cesar Rosas, bassist Conrad Lozano, saxophone-keyboard player Steve Berlin and drummer Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez - hoisted their instruments and stroked the first notes of "Dream In Blue," a jaunty, sharply syncopated blues-rock tune that jitterbugs across a spooky, oddly exhilarating nightscape: PHOTOS: Celebrity photos by the Times "I flew around with shiny things/ And when I spoke, I seemed to sing/ High above - floating far away.

Los Lobos dropped into the studios of KCRW-FM (89.9) in Santa Monica on Wednesday to revisit the veteran East L.A. roots-rock band's watershed 1992 album, “Kiko,” by playing it nearly in its entirety for a live radio and Web broadcast. The performance will be streamable on the public station's website . The album was recently reissued in expanded form, along with a video release of a 2006 live performance by the band. Speaking with KCRW music director Jason Bentley during his "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show, guitarist, singer, songwriter and accordionist David Hidalgo said the album helped the group reconnect with its central musical vision following the runaway commercial success it  experienced  from its participation in the Richie Valens biopic “La Bamba” in 1987.

The way Louie Pérez remembers it, there was nothing more all-American than growing up Mexican American in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Yes, there were serious economic and social roadblocks to Latinos joining the middle-class mainstream. But Pérez and his friends danced to the same music as their non-Latino peers, wore the same clothes - Sonny and Cher furry vests, anyone? - and tuned in and turned on to the same groovy counterculture experiments. They stood shoulder to shoulder for the same social causes, and many of them died fighting in the same southeast Asian war. "The Chicanos in the '60s didn't live in a vacuum," Pérez, principal lyricist and multi-instrumentalist of the legendary East L.A. rock band Los Lobos, said recently.

Los Lobos guitarist and singer Cesar Rosas has sold his house in Walnut for $1.425 million. The 3,906-square-foot home sits on nearly an acre in the hills. Built in 2008, it features a panoramic view of the San Gabriel Valley, four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Public records show he bought the house the year it was built for $1.405 million. The Grammy-winning East L.A. band played earlier this month at the Greek Theatre during the inaugural Los Lobos Cinco de Mayo Festival.

Many cities offer concert series, but few can compete with the Rose City for the most intriguing venue. The Oregon Zoo in Portland is hosting a full menagerie of top-notch acts this summer in its outdoor amphitheater. The zoo series is surprisingly inexpensive, considering the talent on the roster, which includes many Grammy winners. Tickets cost $14 to $39, depending on the act. Many of the most desirable shows are in the mid-$20s, such as Los Lobos with Los Lonely Boy (Sunday)

The way Louie Pérez remembers it, there was nothing more all-American than growing up Mexican American in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Yes, there were serious economic and social roadblocks to Latinos joining the middle-class mainstream. But Pérez and his friends danced to the same music as their non-Latino peers, wore the same clothes - Sonny and Cher furry vests, anyone? - and tuned in and turned on to the same groovy counterculture experiments. They stood shoulder to shoulder for the same social causes, and many of them died fighting in the same southeast Asian war. "The Chicanos in the '60s didn't live in a vacuum," Pérez, principal lyricist and multi-instrumentalist of the legendary East L.A. rock band Los Lobos, said recently.

Can Los Lobos do a bad show? Surely, the members of the East Los Angeles-spawned rock group can point to some night in some venue in some remote corner of the country where they were absolutely horrible, but it's hard to imagine. What other band so consistently surprises you with its excellence? Even longtime admirers invariably walk away from their shows with a new appreciation.

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. El Rey Theatre The Grouch, Dec. 1 (Fri.) Wiltern Symphony X, May 10 (Sat.) Music Box Marina and the Diamonds, Feb. 3 (Sat.) Grove of Anaheim Kottonmouth Kings, Dec. 17 (Sat.) Troubadour Dean Wareham, Nov. 11; Over the Rhine, Nov. 12; Best Coast, Nov. 14; The Rocket Summer, Nov. 15; Natasha Bedingfield, Nov. 17 (now). House of Blues J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys, Oct. 25 (now)

FAMILY Debi Derryberry The successful voice-over artist is best known as the voice of Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron. But her first love is music: She wrote her first children's song, "My Dog's My Buddy," at the age of 9 and has been at it ever since. Families are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to this outdoor kids' concert. Levitt Pavilion Pasadena, 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena. 7 p.m. Free. (626) 683-3230. www.levittpavilionpasadena.org . POP MUSIC Jimmy Webb His compositions — including the ultimate breakup song, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" — have been recorded by Glen Campbell, the Supremes, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and R.E.M.