The Aromas Grange Presents: A Mother's Day Evening with Cascada de Flores

400 Rose Avenue at Bardue Street,Aromas CA 95004

08 May, 2022

Description

Honoring and advancing tradition, building multicultural bridges, and celebrating life, the Aromas Grange Hall welcomes Cascada de Flores. Ticket prices are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Concert starts at 4:30 PM -- doors open at 3:45 PM. LIMITED SEATING AVAILABLE FOR SAFETY -- only 125 Tickets will be sold. Premium beers and wines will also be available for purchase (drinking is OK in the Hall with masking required). PLEASE NOTE: PROOF OF COVID-19 VACCINATION WILL BE REQUIRED AT THE DOOR. MASKING WILL BE REQUIRED INDOORS. NO REFUNDS WILL BE AVAILABLE IF NOT VACCINATED. This is for the safety of our wonderful audience. NO DEPRESSION – The Journal of Roots Music, 2016 – wrote: It’s hard to overstate the excellence of Cascada de Flores. Led by Arwen Lawrence (voice, dance, guitar) and Jorge Liceaga (voice, lead guitar, acting), the duo pay homage to Latin American radio in an act that combines impeccable musicality, theater and the utmost respect for Mexican and Caribbean rhythms and culture. Lawrence and Liceaga…. easily, and quite pleasingly, present a straight-up concert. Interspersed between beautiful renditions of boleros, guarachas and jazz standards are witty station IDs’, comedic “words from our sponsors,” dramatic radio skits and dancing. Think Mexican Prairie Home Companion and you start to get the idea. The core members of Cascada de Flores have been re-imagining Mexican tradition for years. After falling for Mexican music as a young woman, Arwen Lawrence toured with Grammy-winning L.A. mariachi heavyweights, Los Camperos de Nati Cano, an apprenticeship that honed her skills and deepened her love for Mexico's musical language. With them, she recorded and performed in venues such as the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara and Lincoln Center of New York. Nati always nudged her towards what she already did naturally: to sing with heart. Jorge Liceaga grew up in Mexico City, buying his first guitar with the money he'd earned shining shoes. Self taught, he was later mentored by local legend Leonardo 'El León' Salas, a transplant from Yucatan, who taught Jorge to 'guasanguearla' (play with that special Yucatecan swing). Jorge followed his sister and found himself amongst local masters of artistic communication: The flamencos of Gitanerías. From them he received a raw and complicated education, which contributed to his special sensitivity as accompanist. The pair founded Cascada de Flores in San Francisco, CA in 1999. They began by journeying into the hidden corners of Mexico, seeking the real stories of that hugely diverse country. Inspired by the fact that even as deep as its diversity goes, Mexico has a continuous love affair with foreign cultural phenomenon and incorporates them as if they were its own, the ensemble spends 14 years swimming in a magical place somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea where rancheras, boleros, sones and guarachas from México, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia meet. Cascada de Flores has recorded now four albums, collaborated in numerous projects, including theater and cinema and toured to several areas of the United States. In Mexico they have been delightfully received in venues such as The central plaza in Mexico City with Jorge Saldaña, la Tasca in Jalapa, and lately in the beautiful Biblioteca Henestrosa in Oaxaca city and the main festival of Tezoatlán, Oaxaca. They even traveled to study with the trovadores of Santiago de Cuba. Cascada de Flores is now a phenomenon, cherished by the Latinos that hear them, and opening the minds of its non-Latino fans. Opening minds and hearts to the real stories of Mexico and Latin America has become this group's unofficial mission; Jorge feels pride at being able to arrive at a performance without a wide sombrero and still be received with open arms. MUSIC & STORYTELLING performances (video below): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF1Or9GD5hTm7j7xR3pQsCxB720xUYg1D ‍El Abuelo - The Tree & The Donkey Who Loved to Sing ‍Ofrenda Musical para nuestros Muertitos - Let's build a Musical Altar! Additionally, Cascada de Flores is firmly committed to music and cultural education. They present a bilingual music and dance program for children in schools, libraries and theaters such as Montalvo Arts Center (Saratoga), Herbst Theater (San Francisco), Mexican Heritage Plaza (San Jose) and Lobero Theater (Santa Barbara). They have performed in over 1000 Western US schools and Libraries reaching over 500,000 children with their educational program. Recently, the Dúo brought their musical story to la Mixtecan hills of Oaxaca, Mexico. Close to home, members of Cascada de Flores present ongoing bilingual classes and special workshops for children and families focused on traditional Latin American folk songs and Mexican traditional music and dance.