World Music

All latitudes, every musical corner. Irish Folk by The Dubliners. Latin Rock by the Spanish Café Quijano. Afro-Peruvian folklore by the voice of Nicomedes Santa Cruz. Arab Maghreb   and West Africa rhythms combined with a modern vision of jazz and funk, by Sinouj instruments. Fusion multiethnic by Ketama, Toumani Diabate and Danny Thompson. Flamenco, jazz and world music by the risky Radio Tarifa. Malian Blues by the singer and multi-instrumentalist, Ali Farka Touré. Hungarian violins by Robby Lakatos. Calypso, zydeco, with a bit of Hawaiian music by the voice of Taj Mahal, musician from New York who interprets a song dedicated to Mexicali, Señor Blues. Cuban Mambo by Perez Prado. English Rock and Hindu music by The Beatles and Ravi Shankar. And to finish; Mário Laginha, a Portuguese pianist and composer of jazz.

All these musicians stared in a chapter of World Music, but the best part was Toño Quirazco, one of the first ska musicians in Latin America. This man from Veracruz belongs to the "first wave" of performers of this genre precursor to rocksteady and reggae in the 1970s.Toño Quirazco along the Venezuelan musical group Los Hermanos O'Brien founded as "Las Cuatro Monedas" that in late 1968 made covers of ska classics in Spanish, with rather mediocre achievements.

What do we know about Quirazco Antonio López?

He was born on April 22th, 1935 and died on October 25th, 2008 in the same city, Jalapa, Veracruz. Showing an interest in music since his school years, he decided to form his band and try his luck in Mexico City. He studies medicine during four semesters at UNAM, but after an accident he returned to Jalapa, where he makes a short mechanic career. Quirazco is the only Mexican from the sixties with two trustworthy LP's of Ska and several singles in the same rhythm. His characteristic way of interpreting ska highlighting the use of the Hawaiian guitar gave him a great fame in the 60's, this, after visiting Jamaica in 1965 where he learned from all the Jamaican music influences. Among his successes they are: Jamaica Ska, Hawaiian Ska and Merida Ska. He then had some others as Xalapa Ska, Monterrey Ska and Chihuahua ska.