Culture
Flor De Toloache II Gladden House Sessions 2019
By: Liz Penry and Mikayla Schuyler
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Flor De Toloache brought a modernized take on traditional Mexican mariachi music to the Gladden House Sessions Saturday night. Although New York’s “First Only and All-Women Mariachi Group” was founded in the U.S., Flor De Toloache’s members all hail from distinct cultural backgrounds. Each individual’s unique talents are embraced, helping to create their bold musical presence, which fuses beautiful vocal, violin, trumpet, vihuela, and guitarron sounds.
Over the past few years, Flor De Toloache have ignited renowned stages across Europe, India, and the United States. In 2015, they embarked on a substantial European and U.S. tour as the opening act for The Arcs, selling out legendary venues, captivating audiences across a number of different regions, and playing Coachella in 2016. Flor De Toloache has been praised by Billboard Magazine, The Rolling Stones, and The NewYork Times, and after a lauded NPR Tiny Desk Concert with The Arcs, they landed a spot on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and BBC 2’s Later with Jools Holland, as well as receiving a Latin GRAMMY.
With Nelsonville Music Festival being a stop on Flor De Toloache’s perpetual tour, the Gladden House Sessions were very fortunate to receive an intimate, fiery, back porch performance from founder, Mireya Ramos on the violin and vocals, Julie Acosta on the trumpet and vocals, Nancy Sanchez on the vihuela and vocals, and Yesenia Reyes on the guitarron.
Flor De Toloache began their performance with “Besos de Mezcal” and “Hay Tiempos” from their latest, 2019 album, Indestructible (Flor de Toloache LLC), followed by “Las Caras Lindas (de mi Gente Negra)” (a song by Puerto Rican musician Tite Curet Alonso and popularized by salsero Ismael Rivera,) and “Ruiseñor” from their 2017 album, Las Caras Lindas (Chulo Records).