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Cascada de Flores celebrates the diversity of Mexican and Cuban folk music and excels in the sound of the early 1900s when the two countries' musical companionship first exploded into the radio waves. The quartet features the hypnotic vocal duet of Arwen Lawrence de Castellanos and Sabra Weber and playful guitarists Jorge Liceaga and Jorge Mijangos who together perform on a dizzying number of traditional instruments: tres cubano, "guitarjón" (a baritone guitar made out of a cajón by Jorge Mijangos), flute, marimbol (a bass lamellaphone related to the African thumb piano), guitarra de son and jaranas of Veracruz, donkey's jaw bone, zapateado (percussive dance), and cajón. Cascada de Flores' muses include the earthiest of duos of the traditional Trova from Cuba: the late Maria Teresa Vera and Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, as well as Los Compadres, Las Hermanas Mendoza of Texas, Toña La Negra of Veracruz and many maestros of Mexican and Cuban traditional music.
Part of Cascada de Flores' appeal is their cohesive presentation of a large variety of genres. This is evident in their recordings. In their debut album "México"(2001), the group explored diverse rhythms and traditions within Mexico such as canción ranchera, son huasteco, gusto, trova and bolero. Their second CD, "Puente a la Mar" (2002) ("to bridge the sea"), tells the story of music makers of Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and the continuing exchange of their musical ideas in the early 1900s. Song styles include traditional trova, son cubano, and bolero, as well as son from Oaxaca. In 2003, the group traveled to the Gulf of Mexico to study son jarocho - the traditional music, dance and poetry of Veracruz' countryside. In 2004, with the assistance of a grant from Arts International, they returned to Veracruz and subsequently traveled to Cuba, where they met with masters of trova in Santiago de Cuba. "Mi Sueño" (2007), is the fruit of these experiences. In this most recent release, the quartet moves deeper into these musical cultures and goes further beyond simply reliving melodies of the past, discovering themselves in their own creation of verses and instrumentation, though within the framework of these ancient structures of song and traditional music of the countryside. And finally, the cd debuts compositions by Jorge Liceaga, inspired by these musical heritages.
Cascada de Flores' seven years of existence, have seen triumphant performances in venues such as the Zócalo of Mexico City, La Tasca of Xalapa, Veracruz, the International Festival of Trova "Pepe Sanchez" in Santiago de Cuba and Albuquerque's National Hispanic Center. In the last three years, the quartet has toured around the western and central United States to performing arts venues of New Mexico, Washington, Illinois, Idaho and Missouri, receiving multiple standing ovations and excitement from all ages and cultures. Since its conception the ensemble has thrived from collaborations with other artists and local organizations such as Larry Reed's Shadowlight Theater, Roberto Borrell's Orquesta La Moderna Tradición, Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (for which Cascada arranged the score and accompanied live the 1917 Mexican silent film "Tepeyac"). Close to home, Cascada de Flores has given seven years of sold out concerts in important cultural venues of California such as La Peña de Berkeley, Freight and Salvage Coffee House, Noe Valley Ministry, Presidio Chapel of Santa Barbara, SoHo, San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens and the Napa Valley Opera House .
Cascada de Flores also presents a bilingual music and dance program for children in schools, libraries and theaters. As roster artists with both Young Audiences of Northern California and Performances to Grow On in Ventura, they have performed in over 200 Western US schools, reaching over 50,000 students with their educational program. In addition, Cascada de Flores was featured in World Arts West's arts education program People Like Me, in Herbst Theater (San Francisco), Regent's Theater (Oakland) and Mexican Heritage Plaza (San José).
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