Mark Guerrero sings the Songs of Lalo Guerrero
($20-$30 tickets | 7pm & 9pm) Join Lalo Guerrero’s son Mark with Skip Heller & the Reckless Night Ensemble, performing latin-tinged jazz arrangements of Lalo’s music, plus crazy Raymond Scott classics!
Mark Guerrero (vocals) Alex Melnychuck (trumpet) Alan Acosta (tenor & alto saxophone) Christin Hablewitz (flute & clarinet) Skip Heller (guitar) Amilcar Guevarra (piano) Thøger Lund (bass) Arthur Vint (drums)
“In the nimble fingers of player/transcriber Heller and his Reckless Night crew, Guerrero’s “Vamos a Bailar” and “Me Gusta el Cha Cha Cha” maintain their long-held charm offensive while swelling with a newfound Mexicali cool and instrumental brawn. Speaking of cool, the haunted noir of Scott’s “Naked City” may be even more reminiscent of Duke Ellington than of its actual composer (think “Weary Blues,” only more fearful than sad). As good as all this is, you can’t help wishing that ¡Pan-Americanos! were longer and allowed for a greater stretch into each man’s catalog—especially that of Arizona-born Guerrero, whose work as an activist and influence on pop-Mexican work like Linda Ronstadt’s is still better known than his own music.”
– Jazz Times
**Mark Guerrero**
Mark Guerrero began playing in rock & roll bands at age 12. He led the popular East Los Angeles band Mark & the Escorts, who recorded two singles for GNP Crescendo Records. Mark has also recorded as a solo artist for Ode Records (produced by rock & roll hall of famer Lou Adler), Capitol Records, and with his group Tango, for A&M Records. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Herb Alpert, Trini Lopez, Chan Romero, and his late father, Lalo Guerrero, “known as the Father of Chicano Music.” Mark has performed in concert with his own bands and with Redbone, Eric Burdon, El Chicano, Tierra, Lalo Guerrero, and many others. As a Chicano and East L.A. music historian, Mark has written over a hundred articles, hosts a radio podcast, interviewed hundreds of artists, been a guest on numerous radio and television programs, consulted for museums, and lectured at universities. Mark’s 1972 song and record, “I’m Brown” has been twice on display, in 2009 and 2022, at the Grammy Museum in an exhibit called “Songs of Conscience Sounds of Freedom.”
**Skip Heller**
Born and raised in South Philadelphia, Heller was a prolific participant in the local bar band scene. A self-taught arranger-composer, he migrated to Hollywood in the late nineties, and set to work producing a series of critically-accclaimed independent records (both as artist and arranger/producer). In 1999, he scored the film _Man Is Mostly Water, A (1999)_. Shortly afterwards, he wrote the bulk of the new music for The Flintstones: On the Rocks (2001), and music for an episode of the popular cartoon Dexter’s Laboratory (1996). He continues to be active as player, composer, and bandleader.