SAN DIEGO, Calif.  San Diego’s breakout Latin band, Jarabe Mexicano, has just released its first single, “Get up, Stand Up (Semillas)”.  This bilingual arrangement of Bob Marley’s 1973 reggae anthem incorporates Latin rhythms, Spanish lyrics, and protest chants, giving it a fresh spin while also making it current with today’s social justice issues. The single is now available to buy or stream on the following major platforms: iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, Tidal, and Microsoft Groove, among others.

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Bursting onto the Latin music scene with extraordinary momentum, Jarabe Mexicano honors the past while embracing the future. The group has a growing following who love their mixture (jarabe) of traditional as well as popular genres. Their renditions of classic Mexican Rancheras, Huapangos, Sones, and other Latin and Caribbean musical traditions like Boleros, Cumbias, and Reggae, as well as American Rock & Roll hits bring audiences to their feet.

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While “Get Up, Stand Up (Semillas)” is an example of Jarabe’s contemporary arrangements, their upcoming album will also reflect Jarabe’s approach to more traditional Mexican and Latin genres and will provide a platform to launch their own original music.  The album’s release is expected this summer.

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The six-member group ranges in age from 18 to 33; most have grown up living, studying and working on both sides of the border, giving them an intimate understanding of the transborder demands and the challenges facing millions who live cross-cultural lives. Band Leader Mario Eguía, a Navy veteran who served in Iraq, was born in Los Angeles. But Eguía grew up living in the Imperial Valley town of Holtville during the week and in Baja California Norte’s state capital of Mexicali on the weekends.  Eguía states that “as artists, we have the responsibility to entertain as well as to be a voice for our community.”  Lead vocalist Gustavo Alcoser, a San Diego native, moved with his family to Tijuana as a child and crossed daily into San Diego for school and work. Alcoser is passionate about the band’s mission, stressing that “Jarabe Mexicano strives to build bridges between communities, generations, and cultures.”

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Jarabe Mexicano joined Marian Liebowitz Artistic Management (MLAM) in 2015.  In 2016, MLAM secured the band a month-long summer tour of the Southwest and showcased them at the Western Arts Alliance booking conference in Los Angeles. The group then embarked on an educational outreach tour of Baja California Sur as bicultural ambassadors—a project sponsored by the U.S. Consulate in Mexico. While there, they represented the United States in the 10th Annual International Arts and Culture Festival for Peace in La Paz.

 

This year, MLAM showcased the group at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference in New York City as well as at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) expo in Anaheim. Cabana Recording Studio producer Mike Kociela saw a video of Jarabe’s NAMM performance on Facebook in which they played an excerpt of Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” and told them he thought it was the right time to record the full song. The band agreed and Gustavo immediately generated Spanish and English lyrics that reimagine the classic anthem as a modern protest song that still honors the timelessness of Marley’s recording. The band was already in the process of producing an album with Cabana and the decision was made to launch the song immediately as a single. Jarabe’s manager, Dr. Marian Liebowitz, says the advance release of “Get up, Stand Up (Semillas)” makes sense because “right now, more than ever, America needs this empowering music!”

 

Marian Liebowitz Artist Management (MLAM)

In 2015, Mario Eguía asked to work with Dr. Marian Leibowitz in launching a new band via San Diego State University’s (SDSU) School of Music & Dance and the Faculty-Student Mentorship Program (F-SMP). Professor Liebowitz had previously worked with Mario in small school projects over the previous years and was familiar with his style and musicality. The new group’s first booking was for the San Diego Mexican Consulate’s Mexican Independence Day Celebration at Copley Symphony Hall. According to Liebowitz, “when all the diplomats started to dance to Jarabe’s music, I knew we had a winner! The band's approach to traditional Mexican music through the lens of their pride in their experience as border residents has directed the branding of the band and the business and artistic choices we make as a team.”

As such, musical mash-ups that combine traditional Mexican music with popular U.S. songs, such as their arrangement of "La Bamba/Twist and Shout", are a staple of their repertoire. In addition, Liebowitz asserts that “with Jarabe's expertise in music education, I knew that they would be able to add artist residencies to their concert bookings. Through successive meetings, step by step, we worked on the business aspects of the band which included refining the artistic conception.” Throughout 2017, Jarabe will conduct artist residencies at the Guadalupe School of Salt Lake City, the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, and at the Latino Arts String Program (LASP) of Milwaukee.

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MLAM represents two dozen Southern California-based soloists and ensembles.

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The Cabana Recording Studios

The Cabana Recording Studios is a full-service production facility featuring state-of-the-art analog and digital equipment designed to deliver superior audio quality. Services include live tracking, mixing, post-production, mastering, song writing/arrangement and instrumental assistance. The Cabana Recording Studio is committed to providing artists with a creative environment free from the typical constraint of time versus money.  Its goal is to offer musicians the highest level of recording services while educating those new to the process in best practices. The Cabana provides coaching in the fields of production, distribution, branding, marketing and project development strategies.

 

The Cabana Recording Studio was built in 2011 as a private studio so fellow musicians would have a comfortable space to create music any time or day of the week.  Cabana produced full-length albums for some prominent San Diego bands such as The Secret Seven and their critically acclaimed release “Turn Your Back to the Sea” as well as for The Very for Aural Gravy Records (AGR). Both records were nominated for their production value and received recognition by the San Diego Music Awards, making Cabana the “go to” studio in San Diego for some of the biggest artists in the region as well as a trusted post-production facility for a wide range of corporate clients.  

 

To respond to the growing demand, Cabana brought in Universal Recording Artist Mike Kociela to take the studio to the next level. Kociela brought more than 25 years of experience in music production, marketing, songwriting/arranging and business management to Cabana. Since joining, he has made tremendous strides in upgrading the heart of Cabana’s studio, the console.  Cabana now boasts a 70’s Neotek Series 1 analog recording console which was refurbished by master electronic engineer, John Musgrave. Musgrave is also well known nationally for his work in multiple high-profile studios, for his company Mad Labs, and for his signature Neve VR modifications.  Other improvements to the studio include the purchase of many classic off-board pieces, high-end microphones, and a complete overhaul of Cabana’s digital landscape.