Little
Joe & La Familia to perform at LCC on Jan. 15
Laredo Community College students will welcome the new semester with a Back to School Concert featuring Grammy Award winner Little Joe & La Familia on Thursday, January 15. The concert will be held in LCC’s new Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center.
Sponsored by the LCC Student Activities Office, the Jan. 15th concert will begin at 6 p.m. with an opening act featuring the LCC Show Band. Concert headliner Little Joe & La Familia will follow.
Admission will be free of charge to LCC students, faculty, staff and employee’s dependents. A valid LCC ID card must be presented for free admission. Community members can attend for $5 with proceeds benefiting the LCC Fine Arts Center. There will be no tickets to attend the concert. Seating is limited. Therefore admittance is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
Dr. Ramon H. Dovalina, President of LCC, explained that the Back to School Concert is part of a continuing effort to showcase LCC’s new Fine Arts Center and the cultural benefits it brings to students and the community.
“Besides the new educational advantages students enjoy in the Martinez Fine Arts Center on campus, Laredo Community College is pleased to have these excellent facilities which allow us to host more cultural programs for families and students.”
The concert featuring Little Joe & La Familia and LCC Music Instructor Joe Compean’s Show Band will be a reunion of sorts. In the 1980s, the legendary Tex-Mex band was featured in an LCC concert with the LCC Civic Symphony, directed by Compean.
“The student musicians of the LCC Show Band are thrilled to open a concert for a leading pioneer of the Tejano music industry. This will be a memorable experience that we will cherish forever,” said Compean.
Little Joe & La Familia are regarded as one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands in the music industry. Little Joe, who has been entertaining for over 40 years, has been dubbed the “King of the Brown Sound.” He is also credited with pioneering Tejano music, a mix of various music styles including traditional norteño, country, blues and rock and roll.
Little Joe is a multi Grammy nominated recording artist who in 1992 received the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance for his recording of “Diez Y Seis De Septiembre.”
In the last decade, the Smithsonian Institute has invited Little Joe & La Familia on several occasions to perform on the grounds of the National Museum of American History during National Hispanic Heritage Week. He has also conducted a workshop on Tex-Mex music for students all over the world. The workshop was videotaped and is now part of the Smithsonian Educational Catalog. For his hard work and commitment to the Smithsonian Institute, Little Joe received a special lifetime achievement award. In 2001, Little Joe was presented a Lifetime Legend Award by the Smithsonian.
Additionally, Little Joe & La Familia has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad, including Spain, Greece, Italy, and Japan. In 1997, the group was invited to perform in a national television broadcast for Hispanic Heritage Week at the Kennedy Center.
For more information about the Back to School Concert, contact the LCC Marketing and Public Information Office by calling 721-5140. Spring 2004 registration is January 6, 7 and 8 in the Maravillo Gymnasium. The class schedule is available online at www.laredo.edu.
Grammy award winner Little Joe at LCC Jan. 15
Office of Marketing and Public Information
West End Washington St.
Laredo, TX 78040-4395
956- 721-5140
Fax 956-721-5443