Los Lobos: Everywhere You Want Them To Be

Recently I was flopped on the couch watching Wayne Wang's black and white Chinatown whodunit "Chan Is Missing" on IFC. I love the movie and IFC must too, they seem to air it every day. There's a scene which takes place in a dancehall where a group of seniors are slow dancing. I had seen the movie a dozen times but this time I looked closer for where the magic in that scene always seems to come from. I decided to dig a little deeper. I went to the Internet Movie Database and there it was. The music, uncredited, was Los Lobos performing "Sabor a mi". Intoxicatingly beautiful, this Latin waltz is a side of this band that had not been revealed to me...and I've been listening since buying their first EP And a Time to Dance back in the mid-80s.

When they turn up during a celebration of Latin heritage at the White House on PBS, perform the closing music to a Simpsons episode, or provide the perfect tag to an episode of the Sopranos, it's all part of a continuing reminder that 35 years in, Los Lobos are thoroughly ingrained into American music. They are great songwriters and skilled musicians who also have impeccable taste in cover material. And they are still out there with a lineup that has been intact for decades. You have your chance to experience their special magic on November 19 at the Victoria Theatre.