Puentes Sonoros (Sonic Bridges)
In Puentes Sonoros, George Lipsitz explores how Mexican music in LA—from Rock to Banda—acts as a social force. Lipsitz shows how these "sonic bridges" create community and resistance against political change through convivial co-creation.
About The Book
Table of Contents
About The Author
How has Mexican music in Los Angeles served as more than just entertainment, acting instead as a vital tool for community survival and social change across generations?
In Puentes Sonoros (Sonic Bridges), distinguished scholar George Lipsitz explores how music has functioned as a primary register of the demographic and political shifts affecting Mexican-origin communities since the 1960s. Through a series of compelling case studies, George traces the evolution of three distinct musical movements: the emergence of Chicano rock as a defiance against commercial fragmentation, the rise of Banda as a shield against the labor exploitation of the 1990s, and the contemporary growth of FandangObon. By analyzing these "sonic bridges," George reveals a hidden history of Los Angeles, demonstrating how convivial co-creation and performance call new communities into being and transform expressive culture into a powerful social force.
This book is a must-read for scholars of Ethnomusicology and Chicano/a Studies, as well as urban historians interested in the social fabric of Los Angeles. It will also deeply resonate with community organizers and musicians who view art as a form of resistance and solidarity.
How has Mexican music in Los Angeles served as more than just entertainment, acting instead as a vital tool for community survival and social change across generations?
In Puentes Sonoros (Sonic Bridges), distinguished scholar George Lipsitz explores how music has functioned as a primary register of the demographic and political shifts affecting Mexican-origin communities since the 1960s. Through a series of compelling case studies, George traces the evolution of three distinct musical movements: the emergence of Chicano rock as a defiance against commercial fragmentation, the rise of Banda as a shield against the labor exploitation of the 1990s, and the contemporary growth of FandangObon. By analyzing these "sonic bridges," George reveals a hidden history of Los Angeles, demonstrating how convivial co-creation and performance call new communities into being and transform expressive culture into a powerful social force.
This book is a must-read for scholars of Ethnomusicology and Chicano/a Studies, as well as urban historians interested in the social fabric of Los Angeles. It will also deeply resonate with community organizers and musicians who view art as a form of resistance and solidarity.
- Cover
- Half-Title Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Abstract
- Table of Contents
- Learning objectives
- Introduction
- Who writes?
- 1 Cruising around the historical bloc: Postmodernism and popular music in East Los Angeles
- Chicano rock music: Sonic Bridges
- Chicano rock as grass roots postmodern cultural production
- Pausing to ponder puentes 1
- 2 Banda: The music of the migrant class struggle
- The Banda boom
- Banda as an expression of working-class consciousness
- Pausing to ponder puentes 2
- 3 FandangObon: Amplification, counter publics, and fugitive spaces of belonging in Los Angeles
- Amplification
- Fugitive spaces of belonging
- FandangObon
- The local and the politics of location
- Improvisation and amplification
- Pausing puentes 3
- Conclusion
- Puentes Sonoros today
- Notes
- Recommended further readings
- Index
George Lipsitz is Research Professor Emeritus at UC Santa Barbara and an award-winning author of numerous books, including The Possessive Investment in Whiteness.
