The 5th annual Voices of Latin Rock Benefit for Autism Awareness and the Alex Speaks Foundation drew a sold out audience to The Warfield Theater in San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 24. The event included a fantastic line of WAR, El Chicano, the reunion of Azteca, the Voices of Latin Rock Revue, under the musical direction of Karl Perazzo, and Los Cenzontles.

In 2004, Ron Sansoe and Jim McCarthy, published a book on Hal Leonard Press that documented the Latin rock era around the San Francisco Bay titled, "The Voices of Latin Rock." It tells the story of the people and places that made the Latin rock scene happen in the 1960s and 70s. Blessings to them for doing the book because it has done volumes to recognize the unsung heroes and heroines who made this music now part of the story of Rock N' Roll.

But these concerts go beyond the music and are a labor of love with a mission to raise awareness about Autism. Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. It impacts many parts of the brain and usually parents will notice it in the first two years of a child's life. There is no known cure and very few children with Autism can live independently after reaching adulthood.

LOS CENZONTLES

The musical festivities opened with a group that is a cultural treasure from the City of San Pablo. What Los Cenzontles have done in the last 20 years to uplift young people away from the perils of gangs and drugs is exemplary. Using Mexican traditional music as the catalyst for change, it has led to the betterment of their community. Founded by Eugene Rodriguez, Los Cenzontles (which means Mockingbirds in the Nahuatal Aztec language) have established a cultural center, taught hundreds of students via after school programs and recorded over 17 albums with such artists as Lalo Guerrero, Santiago Jimenez, Los Lobos, and many other masters of Chicano and Mexican folk music. Their latest is a collaboration with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and is titled, Songs of Wood and Steel.

EL CHICANO

El Chicano followed and came out smoking and quickly engaged the audience who welcomed them with a roar of applause. From East Los Angeles, the group was originally called The VIP’s in the 1960s. The mix they created highlighted the Hammond B-3 organ playing of Bobby Espinosa and the smooth bass sounds of Fred Sanchez. They gave the Latin Rock era a sound that was incredibly influential and they are still in the pocket of that Organ trio texture. In 1970 they recorded an instrumental song written by jazz great Gerald Wilson titled, "Viva Tirado," which opened their set at VOLR 5. From there hoops and hollers charged up the band, which included Rudy Regalado on timbales, and Jerry Salas, who did "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Tell She's Lovely."

VOICES OF LATIN ROCK REVUE

In the last five years, the Voices of Latin Rock has featured a house band that has brought in a stellar cast of musicians to present the classic sounds of Bay Area Latin Rock. This year the Voices of Latin Rock Revue was led by Musical Director, Karl Perazzo, the renown timbalero and bandleader who has been a member of the Santana band since 1991. His own band Avance is one of the best Salsa bands around these parts and his resume includes working with Sheila E. and a long list of luminaries. The group opened with "Para Los Rumberos" and never looked back with up tempo energy that had the crowd dancing in the aisles.

The Voices of Latin Rock Revue included a segment featuring Arcelio Garcia and Octaviano Cueto doing a medley of MALO hits that had the crowd singing along to "Suavecito." Props to Mike Rinta & Jeff Cressman (trombones), Mike Olmos (trumpet), Jorge Pomar (bass), Carlos Caro (congas), David Mathews (organ/keys), Vernon Black (guitar), Armando Cordoba & Luis Morales (vocals) and of course its illustrious leader, Karl Perazzo. The revue closed out with a smoking version of Santana's, "Everybody's Everything."

HONORING THE WOMEN OF LATIN ROCK

This year one of the highlights was the honoring of 5 exceptional women who have contributed to the Bay Area Latin rock scene. Carlos Santana presented the awards to Wendy Haas (Azteca), Linda Tillery (Coke Escovedo & Loading Zone), Rita Gentry (Santana management), Lydia Pense (Cold Blood) and Sheila E (Pete & Sheila). It was a long overdue acknowledgement to great talents who have long been overshadowed by their male counterparts.

AZTECA

One of the great things about the Voices of Latin Rock concerts has been the fabulous reunions that have taken place over the last 5 years. VOLR 5 brought back one of the great ensembles that came on the scene in 1972 that was co-founded by Pete and Coke Escovedo. Azteca only lasted a couple of years but their albums, "Azteca" and "Pyramid of the Moon," left an impression of a superb musicality that mixed rock, jazz, funk and Latin music with a unique flavor that was ahead of its time.

Currently there is a DVD out of an Azteca reunion that took place in Los Angeles last year but as Pete Escovedo said this was a much better band and had more original members than the L.A. show. And what a show it was! They opened with "Piedra Del Sol" and went into the cooking "Oye Mama." From there it was joyride from the book of Azteca that ended with the crowd on its feet as the band played "Peace Everybody." The star of the night was Sheila E. who lead the ensemble on trap drums and rocked with an incredible stamina and energy. Some of the luminaries included Victor Pantoja (congas), Justo Almario (sax), Curtis Olson (bass), Erroll Knowles (vocals), Wendy Haas (vocals), Linda Tillery (vocals), Jules Rowles (valve trombone) and others.

WAR

WAR closed out the evening with medley of their greatest hits that featured some great musicians playing those Southern Cali hits. Marcos Reyes (percussion) and Sal Rodriguez (drums) were on mark with some solid Latin funk beats. Lonnie Jordan who leads this particular WAR aggregation is the only original member of the band founded 40 years ago in Long Beach, Califas. The band had just returned from playing the Latino inaugural for president Barack Obama and were in the running for induction into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, WAR didn't get in and Lonnie was obviously ticked off about as he told the audience, "We were not inducted by the Rock N'Roll Hall of Fame but indicted by them." He then played the show he said that they would have done if they had made it in. They opened with "Cisco Kid" and closed out with a half-hour version of "Lowrider."

ORALE!

Props to the VOLR concert producers - Ron Sansoe, Bernie Gonzalez and Jeff Trager - for another incredible evening of Latin rock. As well as to the fine crew of stage hands led by sound man Vern Brooks and stage manager Chuck Lutz for a smooth running show. The move from Bimbo's 365 Club to the Warfield put more pressure on the organizers to put more bodies in the seats but they came real close to selling it out and bet next year it will be SRO!