One of my most satisfying projects of this past year was completing the composition and arrangement of the song “Mi condena / My Damnation” with guitarist Yasser Tejeda. We’ve only played it once, back in May, during The Mermaid’s Feet concerts in the Bronx, as you will see below.
I composed the music and over-the-top [...]
Last month, I spent three blissful weeks as a Greenleaf Visiting Scholar at the University of New Mexico’s Center for Southwest Research, going through the archived personal papers of a Planet New Mexico “character” who has captured my attention: musician, composer, professor, folk music collector and lawyer John Donald Robb (1892-1989).
I presented my initial [...]
I’ve been meaning to keep working on this paper titled “Perreo & Power: Explicit Sexuality in Reggaeton Dance“. But I still haven’t. And, given all my other commitments, it doesn’t look like I’ll get back to it any time soon. So I’ve decided to make it available as a working paper. Hopefully, it will serve [...]
A few months ago, I moved from New York City’s East Harlem to Albuquerque’s South Valley. Well, actually, I haven’t exactly quite left New York. My research files and most of my gigs are still there. So lets say I presently “commute” between Albuquerque and New York.
My love affair with New York has lasted 17 [...]
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I am elated about the review our Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia CD Las 7 salves de La Magdalena just received in the June/July 2011 issue of Latin Beat Magazine! You can read the original in Spanish here or click here for the English translation.
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Well, I’m back in Albuquerque and feverishly blogging at Cascabel de Cobre about ideas-in-progress for upcoming essays and possibly a new book!
Check some of my newest entries:
Alabanzas in Chimayó: Notes from Planet New Mexico
Alabanzas in Los Lunas: Notes from Planet New Mexico
Utopian Aspirations, Dystopian Results
The Junior-Sized Guru & Me
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I am so pleased with this footage by Arte Institute, chronicling The Mermaid’s Feet concert I recently did at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture with my sister-mermaid Catarina dos Santos!
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“The Mermaid’s Feet” from Arte Institute on Vimeo.
Check also our rehearsal/interview video by Bronxnet by clicking here.
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I am so happy to announce THE MERMAID’S FEET, two upcoming concerts I have with my band Ojos de Sofia and my fellow singer-songwriter Catarina dos Santos at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture in the Bronx on Friday May 6, 7:30pm, and on Saturday May 7, 7:30pm. [...]
I am ecstatic to announce that Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia’s CD Las 7 salves de La Magdalena debuted at #16 on the Top 20 World Music Charts Europe!
My heartfelt thanks to the Ojos de Sofia all-star team that made this CD possible: Bryan Vargas, Desmar Guevara, Alejandro Negrón, Yasser Tejeda, Catarina dos [...]
My CD Las 7 salves de La Magdalena was played on World Tracks by Radio France International last Friday!
Plus we’ve gotten airplay on WFMU (New Jersey), WBAI (New York), WHCR (New York), KFAI (Minneapolis/St. Paul), WHRW (Binghamton), WWUH (West Hartford, Connecticut), Wisconsin Public Radio, WRTU (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 740AM (Puerto Rico), 1300AM (Mayagüez, Puerto [...]