Thanks toJavier Jara, singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas, for stopping by High Plains Morning today to share a few songs while he encouraged Amarillo residents to come to his show on Friday night at Amarillo College's Concert Hall Theatre. The show, "Our Rhythms, Our Voices,"spotlights Latin American immigrants with music from their native lands. Today, we heard a song about a Mexican woman heading to America in search of a better future for her family, as well as a song telling the story of a brutal mining operation in Bolivia that exploited the indigenous population. Come to the show at Amarillo College on Friday, Oct. 14th at 7p CT to hear more stories in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
To hear the full interview and Javier's in-studio performance, click the link at the top of this page.
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT (from Amarillo College): AC presents special musical project honoring Latin Americans in U.S. ~ Amarillo College will conclude its observance of Hispanic Heritage Month with the presentation of a special musical project honoring the Latin American immigrant population living in the U.S. Headliner Javier Jara and his team of collaborators will present “Our Rhythms, Our Voices”at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 at the Concert Hall Theater on AC’s Washington Street Campus. The event – part oral history, part roots-music experimentation – is free and open to the public.
Jara, who is married to Amarillo native Jane O’Brien, undertook the musical project with support provided by a grant from Humanities Texas. Jara and his team interviewed immigrants from all walks of life and from all over Latin America to celebrate songs, primarily using the rhythms from their native lands. Their tour celebrates Latin American immigrants’ diversity, cultural heritage, and their contributions to this country, by providing a unique window into the individual lives of Americans living in the U.S. – from a Guatemalan housekeeper to an Otavalena Indigenous woman who works in IT.
Photographer Alejandro Moreno-Alanis will display his portraits of each person interviewed along with significant quotations in accompanying panels. All music is composed by Jara, with lyrics by Yahir Duran. Generous support for this concert comes from Humanities Texas. Their grant to Javier Jara and “Our Rhythms, Our Voices” allows Amarillo College to host an incredible, cultural event, making it free to the public, according to Joe Bill Sherrod, AC’s vice president of institutional advancement.
Additionally, he said, this concert serves as a way to heighten the College’s celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. To that end, the AC Foundation was able to raise an additional $30,000 to contribute to the Los Barrios de Amarillo Legacy Endowment Scholarship, bringing the total endowment to $50,000 as this community celebrates the 50th anniversary of Los Barrios de Amarillo.
MORE ABOUT JAVIER JARA (from his website): Hailing from the Ecuadorian highlands, Javier Jara has been producing and performing Latin music of all genres for all kinds of audiences, both big and small, in the United States for over 15 years. With a voice that is both soulful and melodic, Javier specializes in Latin folk and roots music ranging from Trova to Son Cubano to Bossa Nova and Tango. From 2016 through 2019, Javier produced more than twelve Latin ensemble concerts as an artist-in-residence at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin. He is now part of their Latin American Artist Access Program. Javier has two studio albums (De Una with Los Bohemios Perdidos and Canciones de Cuarentena as a soloist). He will soon record his third studio album from the Our Rhythms, Our Voices project. He was recently selected as a finalist for the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Competition.
In his native country, Ecuador, Jara fell in love with music as a young child when relatives would bring their guitars to family gatherings, playing and singing Latin American folk music. Inspired by this experience, he now writes his own music using Latin rhythms from all over Latin America. He counts as influences such iconic artists as Victor Jara, Mercedes Sosa, Silvio Rodriguez, Chico Buarque, and Atahualpa Yupanqui. In most of his music, Jara both sings and plays the guitar.
Band members include: bassist Janie Cowan, who has played with Bob Dylan, percussionist Michael Longoria, who has toured with Patty Griffin and Bob Schneider, and violinists Abigail Shiman and Camille Scheiss, who have played in orchestras around the world.
