Quetzal (band)

The band was founded by Quetzal Flores in 1993 in a Chicano owned cafe, Troy cafe, in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. Martha Gonzalez joined the group in 1995.^[1] They helped start the Seattle Fandango Project in 2009 when Martha Gonzalez moved to Seattle to complete her PhD in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington.^{[2][3][4][non-primary source needed]}

Quetzal is an ensemble of musicians. Martha Gonzalez, the band's lead singer, percussionist, and songwriter, calls it an “East LA Chican@ rock group”, highlighting its strong feminist stance and Chicano roots.^[5]

Quetzal plays a mix of Mexican and Afro-Cuban rhythms, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music. Inspired by the Zapatistas, they incorporate fandango and san jarocho in their music.^[1]

In 1992, Chicano rock guitarist Quetzal Flores discovered the burgeoning revival of traditional music of Veracruz called son jarocho which is born from a community fiesta called a fandango. Quetzal Flores described the community of fandango in the L.A. area as a necessary practice because "I think it's because as human beings we are kind of lacking this sort of connection, like these one-on-one connections in this high tech world." Flores incorporated san jarocho and fandango into his own music style, which is influenced by The Smiths, Ruben Blades, Stevie Wonder, and others.^{[citation needed]}

Flores's musical approach was influenced by various genres such as Mexican musica ranchera, salsa, Chicano Rock, R&B, and international popular music, prevalent in the East L.A. musical scene. Coming from a family of social activists, he viewed music as a medium to strive for social justice and a way to express creativity. The band utilized music as a tool to convey the struggle for dignity. ^[4]

Quetzal was featured in the soundtrack to the 2004 short film Stand Up For Justice: The Ralph Lazo Story.^{[citation needed]} In 2013, the band won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album.^[2] Martha Gonzalez and Quetzal Flores are co-producers of Entre Mujeres, a CD released in 2012. The band was invited to speak and perform in the U.S. Library of Congress and Kennedy Center's Homegrown music series. The Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit "American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music" feature Quetzal as leaders and innovators of Chicano music. Smithsonian Folkways label released the 2013 Grammy-winning CD Imaginaries, marking the importance of Gonzalez's past and ongoing work.^[3] They have also been instrumental in developing Fandango Sin Fronteras, a dialog between Chicanos and Chicanas from California and jarochos-musicians who play the Veracruz style.^{[citation needed]}

Quetzal's work has been the subject of a range of publications, including dissertations, scholarly books, and newspaper articles, most notably Patricia Zavella's I'm Neither Here Nor There: Mexicans' Quotidian Struggles with Migration and Poverty.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][excessive citations]}

Imaginaries refers to scholar Emma Pérez's book, The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History. To the band it's about creating and occupying a physical and conceptual space outside the established structures of capitalism and government. It's a safe space created by neighbors, or musicians, or artists, or kids, or adults, or viejitos, or a combination of any of these. They're inspired to create community around music, a communion where the listener is as much musician as the people on the stage holding the instruments.^[13]

Quetzal won the Grammy for Latin rock, urban or alternative album for its release Imaginaries (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings), a foray into cumbia, neo-'80s-style R&B, Cuban charanga and Brazilian pandeiro, charged with the band's collectivist political passion. It is the band's first Grammy.^[2]

On Imaginaries, they combined the traditional son jarocho of Veracruz, salsa, R&B, and more to express the political and social struggle for self-determination and self-representation, which ultimately is a struggle for dignity. The album had 12 tracks, 55 minutes, 40-page booklet with bilingual notes. This album is part of the Smithsonian Folkways Tradiciones/Traditions series of Latino music albums, produced with support by the Smithsonian Latino Center. ^[14]

Solo albums

• 1998: Quetzal (produced by John Avila)
• 2002: Sing The Real (produced by Greg Landau)
• 2003: Worksongs (produced by Steve Berlin)
• 2006: Die Cowboy Die (produced by John Avila)
• 2012: Imaginaries (Produced by Quetzal Flores) Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
• 2014: Quetzanimales
• 2017: The Eternal Getdown Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
• 2021: Puentes Sonoros Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Compilation albums

• A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd (features Quetzal covering Pink Floyd's song "Mother")