About the Band

La Tuza is a dynamic acoustic trio that performs Mexican roots music. Our repertoire includes pieces from African-influenced son jarocho of southern Veracruz, the swinging son calentano of the Mexican Hotlands, and the fiery son huasteco of central Mexico. The diverse instrumentation of La Tuza includes jarana jarocha, jarana huasteca (both small guitar-like instruments native to Mexico) plus guitar, violin, cajon, pandero, and the quijada (donkey jawbone!). Interestingly, son is now also played in urban centers and performed in places far from its native region (such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and now Boston!) As far as we know, we are the only band of our kind in New England and one of only a few on the East Coast. We hope you enjoy our interpretations of these songs and if you don't know about this style, read up about Mexican son here.

How did this whole project start?

David Wax first heard a son huasteco trio while volunteering with the American Friends Service Committee in the Huasteca region of central Mexico. He instantly fell in love with the music with its lilting falsettos and the syncopated strumming that make you want to move your feet. After that summer in Mexico, David kept returning to Mexico every year. His connection to the coffee-growing community of Puerto Encinal compelled him to study Latin America at Harvard and get involved with Oxfam America’s Fair Trade Coffee Campaign. After graduating summa cum laude, David was fortunate enough to receive the Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship to return to Mexico for a year and learn son.

Upon returning to Boston in the fall of 2007, David met Ana Lisa Portillo and they started performing under the name Son del Otro Lado. Later, in November, Ana Lisa connected with local Boston-area percussionist Brian O’Neill.

What's going on now?

La Tuza is eager to expose more and more people to the son tradition of Mexico. We have performed at Johnny D’s, Ryles, school assemblies, given presentations to Spanish classes, provided music at receptions, and have been featured at multicultural festivals (see our interactive past-shows map). We are currently expanding our repertoire, booking shows for the summer, and looking for ways to continue sharing this wonderful traditional music with audiences across New England. Be sure to get on the mailing list to hear about shows (or use our RSS feed to stay abreast of the performances).

This page was last updated Apr. 2008