Spanish Karaoke (Caf� Magazine)
"Karaoke Castellano"
By Benjamin Ortiz, for Caf� Latino Lifestyle Magazine
April 2009
Twenty-seven-year-old Salvador likes to sing Soda Stereo songs, and it�s good practice for his Spanish pop-rock band Caoba. But tonight he might even croon to norte�o accordion star Ram�n Ayala�s music.
�It depends on how many I�ve had,� he says with beer-bottle punctuation, like he�s ready to pitch another one back and then cut loose with a tear-jerking ranchera cry that will send the whole house to Ayala�s �Un Rinconcito en el Cielo,� like a home on the range and a little piece of heaven left long ago, back in the homeland. (�A� is for Alejandra Guzm�n. �B� is for Belanova. �C� is for Caifanes.)
Find out if you can sing your way through the Spanish-language alphabet on karaoke Thursdays, at the bar La Botana on Chicago�s Southwest Side near Midway Airport. Mix a few thousand song titles with a couple of shots of liquid courage, and see how long it takes you to get from Juan Gabriel to Selena, maybe with a detour past Molotov. (�Ch� is for Manu Chao.)
Host El Gran Iv�n flips tunes and butters up the crowd with Mexican radio-style vocab, like a high-strung frontera-airwaves announcer caught on a roller coaster of his own bilingual verbiage: ��Qu� no tengan miedo ni temor!�
Up next, two women grab the microphone and try to follow racing lines and stanzas from Caf� Tacuba�s �Ingrata,� but the duet comes to a crashing halt with a sluggish echo of indio-punk feedback. El Gran Iv�n declares, ��Y que sigan pisteando!� [�Just keep on drinking!�]
H�ctor Iv�n Garc�a, 34, hosts Karaoke en Espa�ol as a part of Enchufate, the Latin alternative music promotions company he runs with thirty-something partners Sandra Trevi�o and Jos� Calvo. �El Gr�n Iv�n� is the character he created when he was a 5-year-old mariachi singer, and that persona now serves to agitate, provoke and encourage the karaoke crowd with Spanglish double entendre.
�You�re at a place that�s energetic and live,� Garc�a says of a typical Thursday night. �Your name is mentioned, and you make instant friends with your peers, with people that speak Spanish and like the same genres you like.�
"You see the metalhead singing a norte�a and the dude in the cowboy hat singing El Tri,� he adds. �We come from all kinds of music and cultural influences covering the gamut of what�s Latino � and every week it�s truly different.�
Born and raised a South Sider, Garc�a also fronts Spanish rock band Descarga. �My whole upbringing has been a mix of Mexican and American, plus multicultural Chicago,� he says.
The Botana crowd, likewise, is a diverse gathering, with Mexicans from across the region and generation, Central Americans and homegrown Latino South Siders.
Bar co-owner Ivan Fandino was born in Bogot�, Colombia, and came to Chicago�s Little Village neighborhood when he was 3. He sees La Botana as a more upscale and Latino-friendly South Side spot for showcasing Latino arts and music.
Fandino has welcomed local and touring acts from a variety of genres, including Spanish rock and flamenco, and the venue currently offers salsa and merengue on Fridays. �We�ve had some tremendous singers come through here,� he says of karaoke night, mentioning that he occasionally sings one or two Freddy Fender songs.
El Gran Iv�n also jazzes up the event with DJ sets blended in between the singing. Local DJ Nando recently threw together a lively mix of Latin alternative and rock, with some funky shoe-gaze downtempo cumbia for good measure. Enchufate plans on scheduling more DJs, listening parties for new releases, ticket giveaways and free downloads to promote local Spanish-language and Latino music happenings.
Garc�a started Karaoke en Espa�ol six years ago and moved it around town, landing at La Botana last fall. Enchufate partner Trevi�o notices a mostly Spanish-speaking audience at their current venue, but she also sees �the fresa [pop dandy] crowd that likes the pop and rock.�
To Trevi�o, Spanish karaoke is a way for people to connect with their roots, hear about new music and have fun. �People love their �90s rock and they like their Luis Miguel, too,� she says.
Born in Chicago and raised in Durango, Mexico, Jos� Calvo shoots photos for Enchufate and helps document the music scene. He admits to singing the occasional Ram�n Ayala ditty, too � �Tragos Amargos,� to be specific. �That�s when the tequila kicks in,� he says. �People love going up there in front of everyone and letting it all out, whether they know how to sing or not.�
After all, how many of us ever thought that we�d end up drinking and singing in a cantina, just like dear old dad or grandpa?
INFOBOX
Karaoke en Espa�ol
4818 S. Pulaski Rd., Chicago
Thursdays, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.
No cover
www.myspace.com/spanishkaraoke
www.enchufate.com
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