Alonso Brito left Cuba, but it never left him

"The publicity photos for the new album by Alonso Brito have that air of Havana hipness that has cloaked many contemporary artists coming from the island. It's a chic mystique derived from that incongruous juxtaposition of stylish fashion against drab communist gray. There's Alonso, sporting a leather jacket with a dashing red scarf and thick, horn-rimmed glasses, gazing out a window onto a Havana street frozen in time," writes The Times' Agustin Gurza.

"The image, however, is a digital illusion. Alonso left Havana in 1960 when he was 10, a year after Fidel Castro took power, and he's never been back. But while the photo was faked, the sense of sorrow and nostalgia it projects is very real for this artist-in-exile who, on the eve of his 60th birthday, has reconnected with his roots and released the debut album that has eluded him his entire career."

To read the full report on Alonso Brito, go here.

— Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: BACK IN L.A.: Alonso Brito and band at King King in Hollywood, where he ends a four-week stay on Tuesday. Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

Muting the music of mayhem in Mexico

Mexico is as famous for its drug violence as it is for its tequila these days. As the country continues its bloody battle against the powerful drug cartels in the region, the popularity of some of the cultural facets that surround the drug trade are dropping.

The whiskey is flowing at La Cantina when Calor Norteña kicks out the accordion jams for a homage to gangster Arturo Villarreal, who rose from drug cartel protege to crime boss in a six-year reign of mayhem and murder,  writes Richard Marosi from Tijuana.

"The law calls me a dangerous [criminal] so don't dare take me on because I have bullets to spare," the band members sing, as beer-swilling youths shout and long-nailed women twirl on the dance floor.

Since drug traffickers set foot in this border city, Mexican musicians have strummed along, chronicling their exploits in the traditional polka-based rhythms of the corrido. The sub-genre has been a soundtrack for the city, with bands like Calor Norteña sprinkling their repertoires with tunes about the city's most feared gunmen. But with drug war violence and kidnappings escalating, the narcocorridos are losing their swagger.

Radio stations have stopped playing the songs and promoters have banned the music from many public events. Nightclub owners ask bands to turn down narcocorrido requests. At the cavernous Las Pulgas nightclub downtown, managers banned the music two months ago -- a decision tantamount to West Hollywood's Whisky A Go-Go banning heavy metal hair bands in the 1980s.

Read more of Richard Marosi's report on about narcocorridos in Tijuana, "Mexico under siege: Muting the music of mayhem."

For more on Mexico's drug trafficking problems click here.

Photo: Alfredo Madrigal, a member of Herederos de la Frontera, plays accordion for admiring fans at the Baby Rock club in Tijuana. His group specializes in traditional Norteño-style ballads. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

La mujer gorda canta (the fat lady sings) in Tijuana

There isn't much Tijuana is known for that has ever made its residents proud. But in recent years, one of Mexico's most daring art scenes has emerged in the city. Opera is part of that.

Tijuana now has dozens of kids studying voice. It has several choirs, an orchestra, a music conservatory, and an opera company.

Plus, every July for the last five years, opera fans hold a festival on a street in a most unexpected place.

Here's the L.A. Times' video report.

-- Sam Quinones in Los Angeles

Updated: July 25, 2008

Mexican rock group defends illegal immigrants

The popular Mexican rock group Maná has released a video featuring footage of human rights violations, including content that shows migrants piling out of a open-backed truck and being beaten by law enforcement agents.

Vocalist Fernando Olvera was quoted  in an interview with the newspaper Reforma saying that it would be good for Mexico if Barack Obama won the U.S presidential elections in November.

"I'd like to speak with him [Obama] about how humiliating the wall [on the United States border with Mexico] is, because the human rights of Latinos are not respected,"  Olvera states in the interview. He  also added that he thinks conservatives in America do "not view Mexicans in a good light."

You can see the new video, "Arde de Cielo" (The Sky Burns), below.

Maná is  from Guadalajara and has sold more than 20 million records. Its  latest video was directed by Dago González, who has also worked with artists such as Madonna and Christina Aguilera.