Los Lobos comes to Paramount with new CD

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Los Lobos will perform at the Paramount on Feb. 23. | Courtesy of the Paramount

Updated: February 16, 2012 11:04AM

It has been nearly four decades since Los Lobos released their debut album, “Just Another Band from East L.A.” Since that time, the five-piece eclectic group has proven that they are not just another band. For the past 39 years, Los Lobos has assembled a diverse body of work. Their music is influenced by rock ‘n’ roll, Tex-Mex, country music, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music.

“If I wasn’t in the band, I would want to be in this band,” said saxophonist Steve Berlin. “It is still such a pleasure. We don’t play the same stuff the exact same way every night, so that keeps it fresh for us and for our fans.”

Los Lobos will perform on Feb. 23 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

Berlin, who joined the group in 1982, is as relative newcomer. Original band members Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and David Hidalgo started Los Lobos in East Los Angeles, Calif., in 1973. Despite no major hits (the exception being their version of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba,” which climbed to the top of the “Billboard” singles chart in 1987), the band has won three Grammy awards and has sold millions of records.

The group released its latest CD, “Tin Can Trust,” in August 2010 and went back to its roots to record the album. Los Lobos returned to East L.A. and recorded the CD at Manny’s Estudio, in a somewhat rundown neighborhood. It took the group out of its comfort zone, but it also allowed them to play together in the same room.

“The last four records we had done were recorded at Cesar’s house where he had a studio,” Berlin said. “But when we recorded there, we could not play all five of us together. There were not enough microphones or not enough headphones or whatever.

“Well, Cesar moved,” Berlin continued, “so we had to find a new place to record. We went to East L.A., where all the other guys grew up. So we were in their old neighborhood for about a year and a half recording the album and we’d hear a story about this guy, or a story about that guy, and there would be all these childhood memories.”

“Tin Can Trust,” which the band self-produced, is Los Lobos’ first collection of new original material in four years. The CD features rock ’n’ roll, blues, two Spanish-language tracks and even a Grateful Dead cover song. The CD was nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for Best Americana Album.

Berlin believes that the eclectic nature of the band, just like the eclectic nature of the latest CD, is the main part of the group’s appeal.

“We have a broad demographic for our fan base,” Berlin said in a 2009 interview. “We appeal to every color, every race, every age.”

But Berlin also notes that the band’s appeal is because they are having a good time as a group.

“If we enjoy ourselves,” he said, “the audience will enjoy themselves.”