Songs of love & protest at La Peña CD-release party

La Peña Cultural Center will host a bi-lingual evening of "trova," songs of love, the human condition and political protest, on Friday, Jan. 18. Three acclaimed songwriters – MamaCoAtl, Steve Taylor-Ramírez and Alfredo Gomez – will offer their latest compositions, in Spanish and English, as Gomez releases his new CD, titled “¿Quién Es?” (“Who is it?”).

La Peña Cultural Center is located at 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705. The show begins at 8 p.m., and tickets are $10 in advance/$12 at the door ($2 off for students and seniors). Call (510) 849-2568 or visit http://www.lapena.org for more information.

Songwriter and “artivist” MamaCoAtl (pronounced “mama-koe-ah-tull”), was organizer of San Francisco's successful celebration of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Held Nov. 24 and 25, the observation featured music, healing ceremonies, dance, art, and information, all with the blessing of a proclamation by Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Although trova is little known in the English-speaking world, the Bay Area’s trova scene is active and popular among Latin music lovers, though the style is not as commercially appealing as salsa, son and other types of Latin music. With its acoustic style and socially aware subject matter, trova has much in common with the work of Woody Guthrie and the early Bob Dylan.

In this spirit, the Jan. 18 concert offers songs of love and protest, from both sides of the border. Mexico-born singer-songwriter-activist MamaCoAtl brings her passion for life and justice as she takes us across the line, reducing walls to rubble and creating new paradigms in bolero, blues and funk ranchero. Acclaimed Berkeley songwriter Steve Taylor-Ramírez offers his acoustic soul, neo-folk and Latin roots, with songs of love and rebellion. Classically trained Mexican guitarist Alfredo Gomez brings trova to life as he sings of love and its absence, sadness and joy.

For more about MamaCoAtl please visit: http://www.myspace.com/mamacoatl.
For more about Steve Taylor-Ramírez please visit: http://www.myspace.com/thestevetaylor.
For more about Alfredo Gomez please visit: http://www.myspace.com/alfredoguitarra.