Leti Garza
Austin
“While such pioneers as Little Joe y La Familia, Joe King Carrasco and the Nash Hernandez Orchestra broke through cultural barriers, Hispanic musicians such as Grupo Fantasma, Los Lonely Boys, Vallejo, Leticia Rodriguez [Leti Garza] and Gina Chavez are now deeply embedded in Austin’s musical identity.”
— Austin American Statesman
Leti Garza, formerly known as Leticia Rodriguez Garza, is “found in translation.” She uncovers artifacts of her rich cultural and linguistic heritage, and reclaims and translates these discoveries for her world audience. Raised in a music-filled home in Houston, TX, the performance artist's talented family helped shape her aesthetic sensibilities from the start. As a girl, she was enchanted by the music of her aunt, internationally-acclaimed singer Eva Garza, and her contemporaries. The gentle tempo of the bolero and the richness of Eva’s voice stirred in young Leti a poetic sentimentality that marks her music to this day. And as a young woman, the music of her brother David Rodriguez, one of Houston’s premiere songwriters during the 1970s, resonated deeply. His lyrics called for social justice for Latinos/as and others underrepresented in popular art—themes that trace through Leti’s own songs.
Indeed, central to Leti’s work is the exploration of history, both personal and shared. La Americana, Leti’s 2012 debut album, pays tribute to the music of her aunt and Latino/a composers of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Praised critically for breathing new life into Latin classics, La Americana was played on the nationally-syndicated radio program Undercurrents, and featured on Public Radio International’s The World. On the heels of her celebrated debut, Leti released her subsequent EP, Sagüita Al Bate, to even greater critical success. Sagüita Al Bate was under consideration in the 57th Grammy Awards for Record of the Year in 2014, and was played by key tastemaker stations KEXP, KUTX, WBEZ, WRUV, and more, launching it into the top ten most-played world music releases in the U.S. for two weeks.
Originally trained as a dancer, Leti is a riveting live performer. She commands the stage with the poise and charm of songstresses from a bygone era. In 2015, she became the first American artist invited to perform at the XXI International Festival de Las Romerías de Mayo, Holguín, Cuba, and she returned the following year to perform again.
Leti’s forthcoming project, to be released fall of 2017, uses the conceit of love songs to address challenges facing our increasingly polarized world. The album spans three languages and the rhythmic borders of son, danzon, cha cha cha, cumbia, salsa, and heartfelt bolero. Full of vitality and movement, the album—and its expression through live performance—aims to forge connections and inspire action.
Collaborating on the project are Grammy-winning artists Scott McIntosh and Jose Galeano, as well as a talented supporting cast of international artists who share roots in Austin, TX. The work reinterprets three songs from Eva Garza’s repertoire alongside seven original songs. As with her previous work, Leti’s project is timely and urgent, yet romantic. Proudly, it is a Pan-American project—both bridge and battering ram, facing down the threat of walls set to divide us. In a time when so many speak of battening down borders and drawing heavy lines, Leti’s music powerfully affirms cultural expression and inclusion. Through her work, she seeks to honor the many people, places, words, and soundscapes that have shaped her life. Her art bespeaks a belief that, through cultural exchange, humankind can imagine new and better, shared futures.
Leti Garza’s tracks
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