Las Cafeteras blend spoken word, folk, Afro-Mexican
Jose Cano has been home in Los Angeles for a couple weeks. Come July, the musician will be back on the road for a month and he’s finishing preparing for tour. “It can be insane,” he says with a laugh. “There are so many things that I have to get done before I’m gone for a month.”
Cano is a member of the Chicano band Las Cafeteras.
The band is known for fusing spoken word, folk music and Afro-Mexican music with zapateado dancing.
The band’s other members are Daniel French, David Flores, Denise Carlos, Hector Flores and Leah Gallegos.
In April, Las Cafeteras released the album “Tastes Like LA.”
“It has tracks from all different sounds,” Cano says. “That’s our style. We’re a little bit hard to pin into one corner. We don’t play one style of music. It’s the LA sound mixed with a bunch of other stuff. We’re all Southern California kids and have influences from all over.”
Cano says that with six members in the band, it is difficult to find common ground.
With no “leader” or person in charge, everything is a negotiation.
“We have six strong personalities,” he says. “It’s great that we do have all that input. When it comes to making decisions, it’s a democratic process. The great thing about the band is that we all have very different musical tastes.”
For the past five years, Las Cafeteras’ touring schedule has revved as the band’s profile has risen in places other than Southern California.
Cano says being able to play all over the country is a dream come true.
“I remember when I first started playing music, I saw a drummer playing in a bar in Santa Barbara,” he says. “He looked like he was having so much fun. I wanted to be good enough to play in a bar one day. Fast-forward 20 years, and I’m blessed to be able to play in such beautiful venues. To see and feel people impacted by the music we put out, it’s amazing.”
Las Cafeteras have performed in Albuquerque a few times, and Cano says the city and its fans have grown on him.
“Genuinely, it’s one of my favorites places to perform,” he says. “The audience gets what we’re trying to say. Our music isn’t too preachy. It’s about making a change for the better. Artists lead the way when it comes to change, and we’re trying to do our part.”