There is a great deal of creativity now in regional Mexican, national Mexican, and Spanish language music, and to my mind, most of it is coming from women. And bands led by women Alicia Villarreal, María José, Shailia Dúrcal, Jennifer Peña, Anna Bàrbara, Flor de Toloache, Mariachi Nuevo Muher. Instead of the 18 guys in cowboy hats and boots and an accordion and tuba played at 115 decibels, these women are shaking it up. Not that I don’t enjoy some of the great Banda and Rahchero bands – I do, and they are an important part of Mexico. It is just refreshing to see the women strut their stuff and sell downloads and concert tickets like the men. (and in the case of Flor de Toloache, two Grammys).
But one of my favorite Spanish-language, female band leaders is not Mexican – she’s English, as in the United Kingdom.
And the band leader does not play the vihuela, or the guitarrón, or the accordion. She plays the trumpet.
The bandleader is Jenny Ball and the band is Jenny and the Mexicats, a multicultural band composed of English trumpeter/composer/songwriter /singer Jenny Ball, Spanish percussionist David González Bernardos, and the Mexican musicians Pantera (Alfonso Acosta) on guitar and Icho (Luis Díaz) on double bass. They started in Spain, moved to the UK and now live in Mexico City.
Jenny is a force of nature. When she gets on stage or in the studio and lets loose she and her horn and her voice elevate the house. The band creates a Music Sin Fronteras like no other. They blend musical forms from Europe and Latin America and the US like flamenco, jazz, folk, and cumbia, with lyrics in both English and Spanish, highlighted by Jenny’s trumpet and vocals. Their rhythms are especially interesting – rockabilly, flamenco, reggae, son veracruzano, and cumbia mashed together in very danceable tunes. Jenny’s vocals weave in and out with the mashed-up beats, the conga and cajon, and of course, her trumpet.
Their last album, Fiesta Ancestral, was released in 2018 and racked up close to 8 million streams on Spotify. Since then they have toured – they are going on tour in the UK and the USA in August – but they just released a dynamite single, Que Descaro el Tuyo (How Shameless of You).
The new song is a bit of a departure from the high-energy dance tunes you might hear at their shows and on other albums. It is more ballad but weaves the trumpet as a major element. It is a slow dance, embracing the sadness and subsurface anger of the lyrics. Instead of the conga and cumbia, it is more of a waltz with a seductive woman singing as mistress of ceremonies, more in line with the cantantes de baladas like Rocío Dúracal or the opening bars of her 2012 song Freddy with the flamenco guitar and trumpet.
If you don’t know Jenny and Mexicats, stream their new song and albums on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer or Google Play. If you are going to be in San Diego, Austin, Manhattan, San Antonio, Berkeley CA, or at the Hootenanny in Brixton, UK, in August, don’t miss them.
Patrick O’Heffernan
