By the Hand of the Father
Not exactly Alejandro Escovedo's latest album, this is a partial documentation of a project he's been involved with for the past three years, an exploration of the dynamics of Mexican-American family life in words, music, and pictures. As a stage work,By the Hand of the Fatherhas been performed all over North America to great acclaim, and from the evidence here, a lot of that has to be due to the music, some of which Escovedo fans will recognize from previous albums ("Wave," "Ballad of the Sun and the Moon," "With These Hands"). In addition to some new material, there are also a couple of more traditional Mexican songs ("Mexico Americano," "Cancion Mixteca"), and guest vocalists includeRuben Ramos, Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos), andRosie Flores. The spoken bits link the songs, and the whole thing should definitely whet your appetite to see the full show. This is not background music.--Ed Ward