Formed in 1994 in the San Francisco Bay Area by the band’s leader, Eugene Rodriguez, Los Cenzontles ("the Mockingbirds") specialize in traditional Mexican music, especially regional folk music forms like mariachi and banda, Son Jarocho and son abajeno de Jalisco, michoacan, pirekuas, rancheras, norteno, corridos, cumbia, and boleros. The band is widely-renowned for its accomplished and joyous interpretations of traditional Mexican music, as well as adept musical and cultural bridge-building through collaboration with musicians as diverse as David Hidalgo, Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, The Chieftains, Linda Ronstadt, and many others. Three of the band’s five members honed their skills as students of an East Bay nonprofit founded by Rodriguez in 1989. The Los Cenzontles Cultural Art Academy is an award-winning music and arts center that provides rigorous instruction to local youth in traditional Mexican music and dance.