Carrie Rodriguez leads Laboratorio in a concert series celebrating Latine culture, with a special collaboration with Bill Frisell, drawing inspiration from the 1958 Mexican film 'Bolero Inmortal'.
Carrie Rodriguez brings Bolero Inmortal to the State Theatre on Sunday, September 20, as part of her Laboratorio series. It's a night built around the Mexican bolero, with Rodriguez leading the ensemble and guitarist Bill Frisell joining her on stage.
Laboratorio is an annual four-part concert series curated by Rodriguez, which she describes as using musicianship, visual arts, and storytelling to explore and celebrate Latine culture. Each show pairs her and the house band with a different guest artist, and for this one, that guest is Frisell. The title Bolero Inmortal comes from the 1958 Mexican musical drama of the same name, directed by Rafael Portillo, which captures Mexico's Época de Oro—the Golden Age of cinema and music. The film features performances by stars including Rodriguez's great-aunt, Eva Garza. Throughout the evening, imaginative interpretations of classic Mexican boleros are woven together with clips from the movie.
Backing them is the Laboratorio orquesta, a lineup of jazz and Latin music maestros: Brannen Temple on drums, Roscoe Beck on upright bass, Sergio Mendoza on piano, Alex Marrero on Latin percussion and vocals, and David Pulkingham on nylon-string guitar. Between the boleros and the film clips, the set moves through the music and the imagery of that era, with the ensemble handling the arrangements. It's a full band on stage, not just a small group, so you'll hear the percussion and the piano as much as the violin and guitar.
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Tickets are available through the State Theatre, and the show is on Sunday, September 20.
