“We called it Chicano,” Ruben Ramos told me in East Austin nearly 30 years ago, describing his Latinx serenades. “It’s a mixture of everything: salsa, a little bit of rhythm and blues. Everything.” Now 86, the Grammy winner closes Los Días de Calor with “Yo Soy Chicano,” which reiterates, “Soy Chicano, si señor. Soy Chicano, soy Mexicano, soy Americano.” Produced by homegrown ethnomusicologist Carrie Rodriguez alongside Tucson’s Sergio Mendoza, who enlisted Calexico bandmates including John Convertino, the crooner’s 40-something full-length since launching his career in the late 1950s commingles Tejano, mariachi, country, soul – everything. Here, opener “Mi Prietita Consentida” begins with accordion then launches brass, and as Ramos enunciates the old Spanish, the keys pirouette around him as the rhythm section bounces a polka like a kid riding a pony. That inherent spring changes slightly yet significantly on “Crying Time” with MVP Rodriguez, and this time the horns sound like a wedding – perfect Tex-Mex R&B. Gaby Moreno duets next on “El Año Viejo,” which sounds like a Lone Star analog to the Buena Vista Social Club sliced through with Rodiguez’s violin solo. From OG Tejano with Rick Fuentes (“Cruz de Madera”) to a Day of the Dead-like march straight out of Kurt Weill – complete with a rose clutched between its perfect teeth (“Porque Te Quiero”) – Los Días de Calor could only be described as Chicano.
This article appears in August 21 • 2026.
