A professional son jarocho musician, luthier, and instructor, César Castro has been an active liaison between communities in the US and Veracruz, Mexico, for over fifteen years through Radio Jarochelo, a community-based podcast series he started in 2010, as well as various cultural projects, artist residencies with musicians from Veracruz, and cultural events in local communities, cultural centers, schools, universities, and California state prisons. He is very active as a community activist working to promote community building through music and participatory projects, particularly traditional Mexican son jarocho music. He conveys vast knowledge and experience in son jarocho/fandango musical practices and engages disenfranchised communities in building self-sustaining projects that tap into and build upon cultural knowledge, embodied experience, and memory. He plays requinto, jarana, improvises lyrics, and dance son jarocho.
Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/15/2020.