David Hidalgo & Marc Ribot

(roots rock)

David Hidalgo is the driving vocal and guitar force of East LA’s Los Lobos and Latin Playboys, the former of which took border-hopping cultural collisions onto the world stage with a series of chart-topping songs and albums. 

Marc Ribot (ex Tom Waits ex Lounge Lizards and just plain excellent guitarist) is the ex leader of downtown NY’s “The Prosthetic Cubans” (Los Cubanos Postizos). 

Their musical excursions across the borders between cultures, styles and genres were the perfect preparation for this ambitious new project. West Coast meet East Coast, Real meets Prosthetic, and guitar meets guitar in a rocking post roots pan Latin rave up/descarga. Together they have forged a unique partnership where immigrant neighborhoods meet intellectual nuance – creating truly new music to stir your heart, challenge your head and move your body. They’re accompanied by original Cubanos Postizos cohorts Brad Jones (bass), Anthony “The Professor” Coleman (keyboards), EJ Rodriguez (perc), and drummer Cougar Estrada of Los Lobos. 

“At times Ribot played with the wasp-like sting of the young, Bluesbreakers-era Eric Clapton, Hidalgo replying with legato lines rich in lyricism. At other times they reversed these roles or mixed them up. The result: a profoundly memorable evening.” - The Australian review at Sydney Opera House 

"It seemed inevitable that guitarists Marc Ribot and David Hildalgo would eventually join forces, as few musicians possess such progressive mentalities when essaying traditional music from North and Latin America. Ribot made his name as a sideman backing the likes of Wilson Pickett, Tom Waits, and Elvis Costello, but he’s also a first-rate improviser, and his band Los Cubanos Postizos showed a remarkable sense of invention interpreting the music of Cuban son pioneer Arsenio Rodriguez on 1998’s The Prosthetic Cubans. Hidalgo has been a driving force behind LA’s brilliant Mexican-American roots band Los Lobos, but he’s also shown a bracing experimental side in his side project Latin Playboys. Both Ribot and Hidalgo use distortion and discordant harmonies to reanimate traditional music, and together they combine such broad musical knowledge and facility I can’t imagine their partnership will result in anything less than pure brilliance." — Peter Margasak, ChicagoReader

"Chinese Surprize" - Live at Sydney Opera House

Press

NPR's BEST MUSIC 2018: Ann Powers; Favorite Live Shows of 2018

Performance History

3/22/2018: Big Ears Festival - Knoxville, TN
5/16 - 5/18/2017 - Japan Tour
9/11/2015 - Ellnora Guitar Festival @ Krannert Center University of IL, Urbana-Champaign
9/10/2015 - City Winery Chicago
4/18/2015 - Walker Arts Center
6/22/2013 - Solid Sound Festival (curated by Wilco)
1/26/2013 - Hidalgo and Ribot in DUO - Flynn Center of the Performing Arts - Burlington, VT
10/24/2012 – SFJazz Festival
10/23/2012 – Hidalgo and Ribot in DUO - L2 Arts & Culture Center - Denver, CO
 In Residency presented by Texas Performing Arts: 11/28/11: Center for Mexican-American Studies (UT Austin). David & Marc discuss Border Music.
11/28/11: Guitar Workshop w/ Marc Ribot
11/29/11: Cactus Café (Austin): David & Marc discuss Border Music w/ Jody Denberg for KUT’s “Views & Brews”
11/30/11: (US Premiere) Texas Performing Arts at University of Texas at Austin – Bass Hall
8/22/11: Strad Blu Festival (Faenza, Italy). David Hidalgo & Marc Ribot Duo
6/2/10: VividLive Festival at Sydney Opera House. Curated by Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed
10/10 & 10/11/09: (Premiere) Century of Song Festival – RuhrTriennale (Germany). Curator and musical director Marc Ribot