Rana Santacruz: Tiny Desk Concert
By
Jasmine Garsd
Audio Only: Rana Santacruz's Tiny Desk Concert
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Credit: Michael Katzif (cameras); edited by Jennifer Noll and Michael Katzif; photo by Abby Verbosky
Set List
"Tacho El Gacho"
"Dejala Entrar"
"El Funeral De Tacho"
"El Ranchero Punk"
Rana Santacruz came to us on a sunny fall day, and it was a sight to be seen: It's not every day that a handsome young man dons traditional mariachi garb at our Tiny Desk Concerts, accompanied by a bass the size of a whale and a band of scruffy musicians.
Santacruz's music is as magical as his persona — it seems like it belongs on the soundtrack to the filmAmelie, not only for its intense melancholy, but for the singer's fantastic storytelling abilities. As an avid reader of magical-realist literature, I find Santacruz's stories of men who make a thousand women fall in love with them and are killed out of jealousy — and whose funerals cause a biblical flood of tears from scorned women across the land — read like a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Mexican author Juan Rulfo.
There's also something to be said for the genre of Mexican ranchera: Most people have heard it, and for non-Mexicans, it can be a difficult style to comprehend, much less embrace. Santacruz embodies ranchera, while making it easily accessible for listeners unaccustomed to this type of music.
So, in honor of the Day of the Dead, sit back with a hot cup of tea, relax and let Rana Santacruz tell you amazing stories. Even if you don't understand the words, it's easy to become engrossed in the language of the man's music.