Daniel Joel Jesus French
Vocals, Jarana Segunda, Keys
Hailing from the San Gabriel Valley (east of East LA) Daniel is the youngest of 3 siblings. He strums the jarana segunda, sings, MCs, & keys. In the summer of 2011 he drove across the continent documenting his family stories & is very proud of his Chicano, Mexican, Fronterizo, Mohawk, German, Italian, French, English & beyond backgrounds. He is passionate about oral histories, music, freestyling, & works as a full-time musician & storyteller. He most recently graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a B.A. in Sociology. He lives by this motto “Risk everything to live your dreams & know that mysterious forces will come to your aid.”
Follow Daniel @frenchismexican
Xocoyotzin Moraza
Requinto
Xocoyotzin Moraza (pronounced Sho-ko-yot-seen) is multi instrumental musician, born and raised in Southern California. He is a native of the city of Ventura, Ca. Xocoyotzin has been studying, researching, and performing a musical genre known as Son Jarocho for 32 years. He specializes in the performance of the Requinto Jarocho, the Veracruz harp, and the jarana jarocha, beginning at the age of 5 years old. Moraza comes from a family of musicians, including his father whom is a harpist, harp and string maker. Their ensemble is called Conjunto Alma Grande de la familia Moraza, and they have been performing regional Mexican music for nearly 45 years.
Xocoyotzin is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in ethnomusicology, and is regarded as a master of the son Jarocho musical genre, having studied and performed with some of the best in the world. He is currently a member of Conjunto Jarocho Zacamandú, under the direction of Master Tomas Herrera, and is also the harpist for his group Rey Fresco. Rey Fresco has shared the stage with such acts as Nas, Damian Marley, Ziggy Marley, the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Toots and the Maytals, Jack Johnson, Incubus, Modest Mouse, Taj Mahal, Los Lobos, Sistema Bomb, Ozomatli, Lenny Castro and La Mata, and many others. Xocoyotzin Moraza has toured nationally and internationally, and will be graciously performing with Las Cafeteras, on the Requinto Jarocho.
Jorge Mijangos
Bass
Jorge Mijangos is a multi-instrumentalist, master Son Jarocho musician & luthier. Born in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico Jorge began playing music at the age of 5. He has since performed throughout the Americas at esteemed venues such as The Walt Disney Concert Hall, Santa Barbara Bowl as well as the NHCC. He currently lives in Ventura CA with his wife & newborn son where he teaches youth music & builds custom Son Jarocho musical instruments.