Desperado

Performer: Original Soundtrack
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Producers: Bill Jackson, Cesar Rosas, Los Lobos, Tito Larriva, Charlie Midnight. Original score written by Los Lobos. Los Lobos' "Mariachi Suite" won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Bowing in 1993 with his low-budget film "El Mariachi," director/writer Robert Rodriguez quickly established himself as a Sergio Leone for the '90s. His plot revolved around a nameless hero clad in black, wandering around the same landscape Clint Eastwood coolly traversed in Leone's spaghetti westerns of the 1960s. DESPERADO is Rodriguez's big-budget sequel, and much like his friend Quentin Tarantino, music is as vital to the vibrancy of his film as casting is. Los Lobos composed the bulk of the score. Opening with "Cancion Del Mariachi (Morena De Mi Corazon)," the band backs the movie's star, Antonio Banderas, who confidently sings a mariachi song in Spanish, a tribute to the film's character and his simple life of playing music and pursuing love. The instrumentals Los Lobos provide bring the movie to life, particularly when dialogue is sprinkled among the tracks. As with the Latin Playboys (a Los Lobos side-project), the music is more lo-fi sounding, giving it an archival sheen. Elsewhere, Carlos Santana checks in with "Bella," a gorgeous jazz-lite piece that combines his beautiful guitar tones with Chester Thompson's gossamer keyboard runs. Salma Hayek, the film's female lead, sings a longing ode called "Quedate Aqui" in a breathy whisper that aches with desire. And former Plugz and Cruzados leader Tito Larriva rounds out the soundtrack with a trio of songs that range from the swaggering modern blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan ("Strange Face Of Love") and the gritty blues-raunch of AC/DC ("White Train"), to a murkier blend of the two ("Back To The House That Love Built").

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