Grammy winning La Santa Cecilia graces ROH stage

Grammy-award winning La Santa Cecilia brings their fusion of bi-cultural genres to the ROH on Saturday. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - On Thursday one of the hottest Latin bands around, La Santa Cecilia, will play the Appel Room at New York's Lincoln Center, one of the most distinguished and vaunted venues for jazz performances in the world.

Then on Friday the 2014 Grammy winners will release their sixth studio album, "Buenaventura," (translates to "Good Adventures") which La Santa Cecilia percussionist Miguel "Oso" Ramirez says is all about the great adventures the band has experienced in their recent success and what wonderful possibilities the future might hold.

Then on Saturday this unique sound, which fuses Pan-American rhythms like bossa nova, rumba and tango with jazz, blues, rock, funk and soul will be on the Rochester Opera House stage.

Lead vocalist Marisol "La Marisoul" Hernandez acknowledges the cultural makeup of the crowd might not be the same as in Mexico or Los Angeles, where they are from, or even New York, but she's looking forward to performing for New Hampshire and Maine music lovers and feels confident she'll be able to connect with them.

"We can't wait to perform in Rochester," Hernandez said in a telephone interview with The Lebanon Voice on Monday. "As a vocalist my main intention is to make people feel. I'm a very emotional person, I love songs about love, heartache, strength. When I perform, my main intention is for the crowed to feel something or feel empowered."

New album 'Buenaventua"

How does she do that?

"Sometime I growl, sometimes I scream or cry," she said.

Even with songs sung in Spanish, Hernandez said there's plenty people can connect with even if they don't know all the words.

"Music is all over the world," she said. "With it we all can communicate. It's a way to connect."

And that connection can bring awareness along many paths: love, heartache, even the subject of immigration, which can be emotionally heart-wrenching for some Latinos trying to make a better life in America.

The La Santa Cecilia single "Ice El Hielo" tells the story of illegal Hispanics who wake up in this country every day, work hard at low-paying jobs and never know when immigration police will show up, take them into custody and deport them leaving families shattered and in despair.

"It's what people face in this country," Ramirez said. "We wanted to humanize the subject of deportation and the media does it in negative ways, but we're talking about regular working class people and see it from a human perspective. We're talking about families and real people, families that are devastated."

To view a video of "Ice El Hielo," click here.

La Santa Cecilia splashed onto the stage in 2014 when they won a Grammy for their full-length studio album, "Treinta Días," (Thirty Days), which won Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album.

Some of the group's favorite American bands include the Doors, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Los Lobos, Ramirez said.

The group will be playing a lot of new songs from their new album.

"It will be a fun show, even if you don't understand the lyrics," said Jose "Pepe" Carlos, who plays the accordion and requinto, a small Spanish guitar.

For tickets click here.