'Latin-Rock' Bands // p 1 of 1

Calexico

Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 EP In the Reins, recorded with Iron & Wine, has reached the Billboard 200 album charts. Their musical style is influenced by traditional Latin sounds of mariachi, conjunto, cumbia, and tejano mixed with country, jazz, and post-rock.

The band is named for the border town of Calexico, California, and has been described by some as "desert noir".

Formation

Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Joey Burns, who was studying music at the University of California, Irvine, met up with John Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour.

Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. Burns and Convertino formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of Victoria Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.

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Chicano Batman

Chicano Batman is a four-piece American band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2008, the band is composed of Eduardo Arenas (bass, guitar, vocals), Carlos Arévalo (guitars), Bardo Martinez (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Gabriel Villa (drums). The group's sound draws from a mix of genres ranging from psychedelic soul, funk, indie, tropicalia, and rock.

Chicano Batman was formed in 2008. NPR's Alt.Latino referred to the band's music as one of the show's and listener's favorites of 2014. Chicano Batman provided support for select dates on the January–February leg of Jack White's Lazaretto Tour 2015. In April 2015, the band performed on Day 3 (April 12 & 19) for both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In July 2015, Chicano Batman performed at Ruido Fest. As of 2017, the band has played at Bonnaroo (2016) and LouFest (2016), as well as both weekends of Coachella (2017), Sasquatch! Music Festival (2017), the Forecastle Festival (2017), FYF (2017), Beer X (2017).

Chicano Batman made their late night television debut on Conan in 2017.

They star in a 2018 commercial for Johnnie Walker Scotch whiskey, singing This Land is Your Land.

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Santana

Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter Carlos Santana. The band has undergone multiple recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana the only consistent member. Santana had early success with their appearance at Woodstock in 1969 and their first three albums, Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), and Santana III (1971). Other important core members during this period include Gregg Rolie, Mike Carabello, Michael Shrieve, David Brown, and José "Chepito" Areas, forming the "classic" line-up.

Following its initial success Santana experimented with elements of jazz fusion on Caravanserai (1972), Welcome (1973), and Borboletta (1974). Santana reached a new peak of commercial and critical success with Supernatural (1999) and its singles "Smooth", featuring singer Rob Thomas, and "Maria Maria". The album reached No. 1 in eleven countries and sold 12 million copies in the US. In 2014, the "classic" line-up reunited for Santana IV (2016) and the group continue to perform and record.

Santana is one of the best-selling groups of all time with 43.5 million certified albums sold the US, and an estimated 100 million sold worldwide. Its discography include 25 studio albums, 14 of which reached the US top 10. In 1998, the line-up of Santana, Rolie, Carabello, Shrieve, Brown, and Areas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2000, the band won six Grammy Awards in one night, a record tied with Michael Jackson, and three Latin Grammy Awards.

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War

War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk/rock/soul band from Long Beach, California, known for several hit songs (including "Spill the Wine", "The World Is a Ghetto", "The Cisco Kid", "Why Can't We Be Friends?", "Low Rider", and "Summer"). Formed in 1969, War is a musical crossover band that fuses elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, psychedelia, and reggae. According to music writer Colin Larkin, their "potent fusion of funk, R&B, rock and Latin styles produced a progressive soul sound", while Martin C. Strong calls them "one of the fiercest progressive soul combos of the '70s". Their album The World Is a Ghetto was Billboard's best-selling album of 1973. The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. War was subject to many line-up changes over the course of its existence, leaving member Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current line-up; four other members created a new group called the Lowrider Band.

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