Mr. Vallenato Closes the 2011 Sunset Concerts Series at the Skirball 8/25

The 2011 Sunset Concerts series concludes on Thursday, August 25 at 8 PM, with Jorge Villarreal (a.k.a. Mr. Vallenato), the renowned Mexican American accordion virtuoso who brings his lifelong and deep love for Colombian folk music to the Skirball Cultural Center showcasing traditional vallenato and cumbia.

Villarreal started his musical career as a teenager in Houston, Texas, playing keyboards and accordion with the only Colombian cumbia band in the city and at seventeen, he won first place in the Diatonic Accordion Professional Category at the Czech Festival. In the mid-90s, Villarreal played and toured with the legendary Colombian cumbia master, Aniceto Molina, and recorded on two of Molina's albums.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 1997, and studying traditional vallenato in Colombia, Villarreal has shared the stage with Latin Grammy winners and Colombian music icons Aterciopelados, Maldita Vecindad, Calle 13, and Alejandra Guzman. He has also collaborated with Colombian cumbia singer Lucho Campillo y La Potencia, as well as Electronic/Afro-Colombian rhythms band Palenke Soultribe. He has collaborated with La Sonora Show, Amandititita, La Sonora Meliyará, Venezuelan singer-songwriter Tania Sáenz, Colombian Jazz guitarist Juan Carlos Quintero, Peruvian rock/pop artist Santino, and Sonoclip.

After a 2009 performance in Downtown Los Angeles, Blogdowntown raved, "Mr. Vallenato... led the night with an accordion frenzy befitting Jimi Hendrix. At times one wondered whether Villarreal would light his instrument on fire at the end of the set. When saying Hendrix, it doesn't imply he translated traditional sounds to become rock and roll; rather, he squeezed emotions out of cumbias with so much force, he faced the Downtown heavens as his layers of Colombian rhythms touched the sky."

The Skirball Cultural Center's Sunset Concerts, curated by Skirball Music Director Yatrika Shah-Rais, offers community concerts free of charge representing music from around the globe. The 2011 series opened on July 21 with Maria de Barros and continued with the West Coast premiere of Red Baraat (July 28), Yemen Blues (August 4), Nuriya (August 11), Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited (August 18). The series concludes with Mr. Vallenato on August 25.

WHO:
Mr. Vallenato

WHERE:
Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 440-4500 ⋅ www.skirball.org

WHEN:
Thursday, August 25, 2011
8:00 PM - Concert
7:00 PM - Doors

TICKETS:
FREE CONCERT AND MUSEUM ADMISSION; no reservations
Limited seating on a first-come, first-served basis
On-site parking: $10 per car (cash only). Street parking is strictly prohibited.
Carpooling is encouraged or take Metro Rapid 761.

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