Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 11, 2022 9:18:06 GMT -5
Linda looks happy, but there is also the sadness of the elderly in her eyes.
|
|
|
Post by ukfan on May 11, 2022 9:38:41 GMT -5
The El Charro Cafe Tucson where Linda went out for a meal is the oldest Mexican Restaurant in the U.S. built in 1922 & named as one of America’s 50 most iconic restaurants. It ships food nationwide & even appears on YouTube on Oldest Mexican Restaurant in America.Linda loves her Mexican food even though as you say it does look like she is in the kitchen. Maybe she will include it in her book as it includes recipes.
|
|
|
Post by rick on May 13, 2022 14:36:50 GMT -5
Received an alert on my phone that the (Tucson-based) Arizona Daily Star has an article posted in the last few hours about Linda's reaction/response to having the Music Hall renamed in her honor. Unfortunately, no matter which browser or search engine I use, the site won't let me in behind its paywall. Attached is a quick screen grab I was able to take before the paywall blocked me. I'm wondering if anyone else here might be able to post more than just the link. Thank you.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 16:31:55 GMT -5
Probably good thinking to keep the renaming from Linda...
Any more photos of the new sign?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 16:47:28 GMT -5
ENTERTAINMENT A Tucson Legacy: Linda Ronstadt Surprised By Music Hall Renaming By Eli Pacheco On May 13, 2022 0 Share Ads by Ad.Plus Linda Ronstadt looked a little nervous sitting on the stage of the newly christened Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on May 7.
All eyes were on the Tucson native and music legend, and she knew it.
“Sitting through the ceremony was a bit difficult,” she admitted in a phone interview a couple of days later. “Sometimes Parkinson’s takes your voice away, and when it happens I start to stutter. I wasn’t prepared to speak.”
She also confessed that she never would have imagined her hometown would honor her in that controversial space that she had railed against when it was built in the early 1970s.
The sprawling Tucson Convention Center and adjoining Music Hall and Leo Rich Theater was built on 80 acres of downtown that for more than 100 years was home to mostly Mexican-American, Pasqua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham residents. Their barrio was razed in the name of urban renewal in a move that was controversial back then and remains so for some residents to this day.
Ronstadt had spoken out against the Tucson Community Center — the Tucson Convention Center name came later — which makes the move to slap her name on the building a bit ironic, she said.
“I have been very vocal about complaining about the Convention Center,” she said. “It’s a community center replacing a community that was viable.”
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero says the long-simmering hurt over the TCC played a bit of a role in her proposal to honor Ronstadt, the first Latina woman to have a city building named after her. “Her name belongs in that space and the names of Mexican-American people belong in a space that really (sparked) trauma that is still very much alive in many families, including Mexican and O’odham and Yaqui families that were displaced from that area to build the Tucson Convention Center,” Romero said. “It really is, for me, about reclaiming space.”
“She has a beautiful, long legacy in music. She doesn’t really need Tucson for her name to live on forever,” the mayor added. “What it does is give Tucson an opportunity to really recognize her as a daughter of Tucson. Her and her family have a long history here in our city and so being able to reconnect her to her history and her culture it really cements her legacy in the Southwest, in our Sonoran Desert …. Her culture and her Mexican-American culture, I think that renaming the Music Hall after her is my way of saying that there is history here in our city and our downtown that revives that Mexican-American family and people (who) were part of this space.”
Ronstadt said the funny thing about having her name on the Music Hall is that her Mexican-American heritage will be lost on people who have no idea about her beyond her historic music career that crossed genres — country, pop, rock and Mexican — and generations — her career spanned four decades, from the late 1960s through early 2000s.
“I have a German surname,” she said, then chuckled. “It’s always confusing to people. Of course a lot of Germans settled in northern Mexico and they married Mexican women. My great-grandfather married Margarita Redondo. His family had been (in Mexico) for at least 100 years.” Chronicling Linda Ronstadt stopped singing around 2006 when she started experiencing symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. She was diagnosed with the degenerative disorder in 2013.
She has made several public appearances in Tucson since, including a couple “conversations with” evenings at Fox Tucson Theatre in 2014 and 2018 that gave fans an opportunity to hear Ronstadt tell stories about her career and her childhood in Tucson.
She also made a journey in spring 2019 to Banámichi, Sonora, the small town along the Río Sonora several hours south of the U.S.-Mexico border not far from where her grandfather, Federico José María Ronstadt, was born. He immigrated to Tucson in the early 1880s.
Ronstadt took the journey with her longtime friends Bill Steen, who also has ties to that area, and Jackson Browne, and students from the Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy. Documentary filmmaker James Keach chronicled the visit in the 2020 film “Linda and the Mockingbirds.”
It was the second documentary centered around Ronstadt; in 2019, filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman released “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” based on her 2013 book “Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir.” In October, Ronstadt is releasing “Feels Like Home,” a book she wrote with Lawrence Downes with photos by Steen. The book is a love letter to Tucson and Mexico told through the family letters, photos, recipes and songs of six generations of Ronstadts.
A musical legacy At the May 7 renaming ceremony, which took place during the 40th annual Tucson International Mariachi Conference, the 75-year-old said she accepted the honor on behalf of the entire Ronstadt family, past and present. “I came from a certain musical milieu that was informed a lot by the radio and a lot by the culture of Tucson,” she said. “My family was musical; some of them were professional, some weren’t professional at all, but everybody played and sang and they sang their own feelings and they sang their own sorrows and they sang their own joys. That’s why I accepted it on behalf of the entire Ronstadt family. We weren’t the only musical family but we were one of the musical families. My grandfather had a band, military band, at the end of the 19th century. They toured and got out on the road to California and played. But they were the main source of music in Tucson. If you had a wedding or baptism or military parade, my grandfather played music for you.”
When you ask her about her own legacy in Tucson, Ronstadt said she has no idea how she will be remembered.
“You don’t know what people are going to think of you after you’re gone,” she said. “And I don’t care; I’ll be dead.” But she said that one of her proudest accomplishments was her Mexican records including the seminal 1987 album “Canciones de Mi Padre.” The album, which sold 2.5 million copies and earned Ronstadt a Grammy, played a significant role in mariachi’s rise on the world stage and the prominence of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference.
“I recorded Mexican music for the most self-indulgent reasons: I loved it and I wanted to sing it,” she said. “And I didn’t know that it was going to have any effect at all on the world of mariachi at large. They were idols to me, these kings and queens … they were my heroes. So to think that I had an impact on their world is a little overwhelming.”
In April, “Canciones de Mi Padre” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 16:56:11 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by rick on May 13, 2022 23:09:17 GMT -5
heartbreaker, thank you very much for posting that article.
|
|
|
Post by Partridge on May 14, 2022 1:23:57 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 14, 2022 4:59:36 GMT -5
I did not know about Linda's protestations regarding the TCC way back in the early 1970s. In character as I now know, but surprisingly early, before she was well known enough for her name to make people take note.
So Linda might not have liked having a building given her name, though it was the music hall, although I am sure she would have brought up a musician she considered more worthy than herself.
That article is good though, because Linda's reaction shows she is still sharp mentally, despite her illness.
|
|
|
Post by PoP80 on May 14, 2022 7:22:28 GMT -5
Accepting the honor on behalf of her whole family gives special meaning to their roots and devotion to the region. It also coincides well with her upcoming book. As always, Linda's humility is evident, so maybe she would have preferred the name to be "Ronstadt Music Hall" instead.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 14, 2022 9:38:31 GMT -5
Accepting the honor on behalf of her whole family gives special meaning to their roots and devotion to the region. It also coincides well with her upcoming book. As always, Linda's humility is evident, so maybe she would have preferred the name to be "Ronstadt Music Hall" instead. There is already a Ronstadt Transit terminal. Music is Linda.
|
|
|
Post by rick on May 15, 2022 4:54:13 GMT -5
The El Charro Cafe Tucson where Linda went out for a meal is the oldest Mexican Restaurant in the U.S. built in 1922 & named as one of America’s 50 most iconic restaurants. It ships food nationwide & even appears on YouTube on Oldest Mexican Restaurant in America.Linda loves her Mexican food even though as you say it does look like she is in the kitchen. Maybe she will include it in her book as it includes recipes. Not sure if any people here watch the series "Top Chef" on Bravo here in the U.S., but on the episode that will air on Thursday, May 26, the remaining chefs will go to Tucson's El Charro! I am wondering if Linda might get a mention. The description on my cable guide for the May 26 episode of “Top Chef” says: “The chefs make the trip to El Charro in Tucson, Ariz., the oldest family-run Mexican restaurant in the country.” [They make a trip because this season has been mostly set in Houston.]
|
|
|
Post by PoP80 on May 15, 2022 7:20:34 GMT -5
The 100th Anniversary of El Charro Cafe is coming up this year. There are four different locations in Tucson, but the downtown restaurant if probably the original.
|
|
|
Post by rick on May 15, 2022 16:28:48 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2022 17:40:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by erik on May 15, 2022 18:38:22 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on May 16, 2022 8:28:54 GMT -5
Thanks, Erik, for posting the mural article. They are amazing artists. Now that makes a statement. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by PoP80 on May 16, 2022 8:38:56 GMT -5
Rock Martinez is super-talented and is a self-taught artist. The mural of Linda is beautiful! He did one of Prince a few years ago for a museum. images.app.goo.gl/kHb3Y71A2yKwdG3aA
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2022 12:47:16 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by guest on May 20, 2022 15:23:26 GMT -5
let's hope that there are angels in the architecture
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on May 20, 2022 16:00:47 GMT -5
Yes, let's hope that, guest. Welcome to the forum. Linda would love it if people heard them vs reverb. Thanks again for the input, guest and it is easy to join. eddiejinnj
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 21, 2022 14:59:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by rick on May 23, 2022 0:59:27 GMT -5
Letter: Kudos to Mayor Regina Romero for the newly renamed, Linda Ronstadt Music HallLetter: Kudos to Mayor Regina Romero for the newly renamed, Linda Ronstadt Music HallTucson's public spaces have long ignored the rich diversity of our city's Mexican American heritage. With the dedication of the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall and Alva Torres Plaza, we laud the City of Tucson's first Latina Mayor, Regina Romero, who in consultation with community leaders, is correcting historical wrongs. What was once taken away from us, we reclaim in perpetuity. During the 1960's, the area known as "La Calle" or "Tucsonense Downtown", was a densely-packed neighborhood, home to Mexican American, African American, and Asian American families. For 'urban renewal' (Sound familiar?), the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project, approved by Tucson voters, created the Tucson Convention Center. Chicanos/Latinos and native Mexican-American Tucsonans were deprived of land ownership as a way to generational wealth because of this land steal. Alongside my fellow Tucsonans, I look forward to visiting the TCC, and in particular, stopping by the Alva B. Torres Plaza, making my way down the fountain-laden steps to the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, to say, 'Welcome Home'! Corina Ontiveros Southwest side Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
|
|
|
Post by erik on May 23, 2022 19:23:48 GMT -5
Quote from Arizona Daily Star article + letter:
Of course everything said in the letter was right, and not just for Tucson beginning in the few short years after Linda had left for L.A., but also for many other cities with large ethnic communities, especially Latin-x. What is known as "urban renewal" is also known as "Gentrification"--both phrases, by the way, are essentially code words for White, Safe, Clean, and Homogeneous, and I suspect (as Linda herself certainly seemed to for decades) that was the entire point, at least insofar as Linda's hometown was concerned.
I would only want to tell both Ms. Ontiveros and Ms. Romero that Linda, her hometown, and her own Mexican-American culture have a lot of support and understanding among those of us, like myself, who are Anglo, and who can at least empathize what it's like for ethnic communities when corporate greed overrides their concerns about their own culture and their own history, as has happened over and over again. As I said once, not all, indeed not even most, Anglo-Americans are disdainful of other peoples' cultures here in America, especially the Latin-x culture of the Southwest that is a big part of Linda's own upbringing. You'd just never know it looking at it through most mass media in this country and hearing all the invective from certain "personalities" (none of whom I need name, because why give attention to idiots, right?). So I hope that comes across more when folks like Bonnie Raitt come to perform in the music hall named for such an iconic figure as Linda has been and still remains to this day.
|
|
|
Post by MokyWI on Oct 16, 2022 6:27:16 GMT -5
I am beginning to wonder if the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall is a lasting title for the venue. It’s still being referred to as The Tucson Music Hall on many artists concert lists. These tours and dates were booked AFTER the so call name change. It’s also still being called The Tucson Music Hall in some ads for shows.
Maybe it just takes time for all to get up to speed with name change but the roll out seems a bit sloppy, not unlike the signage for venue at the name change ceremony.
|
|
|
Post by rick on Oct 17, 2022 5:19:11 GMT -5
Moky (Mike) --
Nowadays there are so many different vendors selling tickets (StubHub among them) that I don't think they care if they get the name of the venue correct -- they just care about the almighty dollar. It might just take time. When some of the acts booked their gigs -- there can be long lead times -- it might have been Tucson Music Hall -- and that might be how the acts' reps have it in the contracts. Time will tell.
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Oct 17, 2022 5:57:40 GMT -5
I had replied to Moky yesterday but it wouldn't let me post because of an error or something. I am hoping that it just takes time for people to get used to new name. In this case, imo, it is for the better vs going from the Garden State Arts Center to the PNC Bank Arts Center. The former sounds so much nicer and appropriate for the arts. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by erik on Oct 17, 2022 8:50:58 GMT -5
Quote by eddiejinnj:
It unfortunately has a lot to do with "needing" corporate sponsorship and money for such venues to exist. Thankfully, Tucson resisted that temptation when it came to their music hall and named it for their hometown heroine.
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Oct 17, 2022 17:10:00 GMT -5
Well, it is not a huge complex like the PNC Bank Arts Center but am glad that they didn't need such sponsorship. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by rick on Jan 2, 2023 2:51:52 GMT -5
|
|