Cesar Rosas Soul Disguise CD

On his solo debut, Cesar Rosas, Los Lobos' goateed guitarist, leaves Mitchell Froom's avant-production techniques to Los Lobos' other side project, The Latin Playboys, and instead comes up with a tasty mix of blues, rock and norteno music. Drawing deeply from the Texas/Louisiana area for musical inspiration, Rosas serves up '50s-style shuffles complete with sax and squeezebox ("Struck"), funky rump-shakers worthy of the Meters ("Shack And Shambles"), and Stax-flavored soul ballads ("E. Los Ballad #13").

Throughout the album, Rosas' cultural pride is in evidence, whether in the shrine of religious objects pictured in the CD booklet or in the inclusion of two Spanish songs. Joining the guitarist on both "Angelito" and "Adios Mi Vida" is fellow Mexican-American Flaco Jimenez on accordion. The former is a self-penned, peppy Tejano two-step, while the latter is a waltz paced by Jimenez's playing. Rosas' most effective moments come when he tears it up on the harmonica-peppered "Racing The Moon" and transforms Ike Turner's "You've Got To Lose" into a Creedence-flavored swamp rocker.

Recorded at CRG Studios, Rowland Heights, California.

Personnel: Flaco Jiménez (vocals, accordion); Eddie Baytos (accordion, piano); Jimmy Roberts (saxophone); Aaron Ballesteros (drums, timbales); Victor Bisetti (drums).

Audio Mixers: John Paterno; Paul DuGre.

Recording information: CRG Studios, Rowland Heights, CA.

Photographer: Cesar Rosas.

Unknown Contributor Role: Cesar Rosas.

Personnel: Cesar Rosas (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Pepe Jose Gutierrez (harp); Flaco Jimenez (accordion, background vocals); Lynwood Slim (harmonica); Jimmy Roberts, Jack Freeman (saxophone); Eddie Baytos (accordion, piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Rudy Rosas (Hammond B-3 organ); Ronnie Maldonado, Larry Taylor (bass); Aaron Ballesteros (drums, timbales); Victor Bisetti (drums).

Rolling Stone (4/1/99, p.98) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...SOUL DISGUISE is a stylistic showcase of blues both fast and slow, brassy Tex-Mex soul, accordion-fueled nortena and a clutch of tunes written with Leroy Preston of the Western-swing revivalists, Asleep at the Wheel..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/5/99, p.71) - "...[SOUL DISGUISE] is a straight-ahead album of pulsing MexiCali blues and border soul. Rosas strips away the ambient Mitch Froom-produced ornamentation of the last two Lobos records and returns to a simpler roots-rock style..."
Dirty Linen (8-9/99, p.60) - "...a diverse, rocking CD....offers a powerful antidote that expands on the original recipie without diluting any potency."