Entertainment

Los Lobos still changing its disguise after five decades

Group to headline Maui Music & Food Experience on Aug. 22

One of America's most acclaimed rock bands, Los Lobos has spent more than five decades forging a distinctive sound, creating adventurous albums defined by musicianship and a unique blend of musical traditions.

"We get to change our disguise on a regular basis," Los Lobos' Steve Berlin said. "We'll do something folkloric and acoustic and then something else. We don't do any one thing for too long to make ourselves tired of it, and we're very lucky that we've never had to compromise. We have to agree unanimously on something to do it, and all that adds up to surviving 50 years as a band."

Weaving together rock, blues, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B and traditional Mexican music, Los Lobos will perform Aug. 22 at the two-day Maui Music & Food Experience at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa.

The four-time Grammy-winning band comprises Louie Perez (guitar, drums, vocals), David Hidalgo (guitar, violin, accordion, percussion, vocals), Cesar Rosas (guitar, vocals), Conrad Lozano (bass, vocals) and Berlin (sax and keyboards). Every member is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, and Hidalgo is widely recognized as one of America's premier guitarists and vocalists.

To celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2004, Los Lobos invited a few friends to join them in the studio for the album "The Ride." They included Elvis Costello, gospel great Mavis Staples, R&B legend Bobby Womack, The Band's Garth Hudson, British folk-rock icon Richard Thompson, Tom Waits, the Grateful Dead's lyricist Robert Hunter and salsa star Rubén Blades.

"We were just dreaming, basically," said Berlin. "We put a bunch of names in the hat, and almost everybody that we asked to join up said yes. It was a remarkable experience on every level to get to work with our heroes playing our music."

For their most recent album, "Native Sons," which won the Grammy for best Americana album, Los Lobos paid tribute to their Los Angeles home with covers of songs by Buffalo Springfield, Jackson Browne, the Beach Boys, Thee Midniters, War and The Blasters. They delivered an intense take on Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and a strong rendition of the Beach Boys classic "Sail on Sailor."

"That was the stuff that kind of formed us," said Berlin. "They were hugely important. We just made a big list of the people that were most important to us."

From their early days, they developed a cult following, fusing traditional Mexican folkloric influences with rock. Winning their first Grammy for their EP, "And a Time to Dance," the band's cover of Chicano rock pioneer Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," catapulted them to mainstream success.

Tapping America's rich roots while committed to innovation, albums like "The Neighborhood" showcased this powerhouse conjuring a melange of gritty rock, growling blues, effervescent boogie and soulful folk.

They shattered the mold again with "Kiko," an abstract experimental work hailed by many as a crowning achievement. Then came "Colossal Head," a hallucinogenic hybrid of deconstructed rock, ferocious funk, roaring Latin fire and murky blues shuffles.

If there's any secret to their longevity, "besides just dumb luck," Berlin explained, it's their family grounding. "The guys started their families very young, so they were already like grown-ups when the world became aware of them," he noted. "They went through having kids and putting food on the table. They had to be responsible adults. When success happened, they were better prepared for it and had already spent seven or eight years struggling and not doing a lot of stuff in the public eye before anything happened."

Los Lobos displays the group's extraordinary versatility in live performances. When PBS presented a tribute to the Beatles, Los Lobos stole the show, blazing through John Lennon's psychedelic classic "Tomorrow Never Knows." A Minnesota Star Tribune review called Los Lobos "one of America's great live bands."

At recent shows, their covers have included Santana's "Oye Cómo Va," the Dead's "Bertha" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."

Looking forward to returning to Kaanapali, Berlin has also been working with Maui's Kanekoa, producing an album for the band.

"They're a lot like us, a kind of family of sorts," he said. "I appreciate bands that are able to maintain their integrity for ages and do something unique and special. They're also really wonderful guys."

Asked whether Vince Esquire might jam with Los Lobos since Kanekoa is performing the same night, Berlin said: "He's sat in with us before. So yes, definitely, we'll get him out there. We love those guys."

They will also be joined at the show by Alejandro Escovedo, who has spent five decades weaving punk, country, rock and Americana into a body of work Rolling Stone called "music with heart, brains, and a burning sense of adventure."

"It's a good cause," said Berlin. "Good music for a good cause -- it's always a pleasure for us."

Los Lobos will perform Aug. 22 at the third annual Maui Music & Food Experience at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa.

The show will begin at 5 p.m. The lineup includes What Mongoose? featuring Lisa Fischer, Bernard Fowler, Nicholas Tremulis, Miles Davis band keyboardist Robert Irving III and Naiwi Teruya, plus Kanekoa.

On Aug. 21, the Maui Music & Food Experience will feature Taimane, John Cruz, 3 Pounds of Kalo and the Maui Taiko Drummers. For more information, visit mauimusicandfoodexperience.org.