Tucson's alt-weekly  -- which is in no way affiliated with New Times, despite what people seem to think -- has a really nice feature about Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta's Salvador Duran in this week's issue.

Duran is the intense man in black who helps Sergio with singing duties and speaks mostly in Spanish. (He's also apparently a well-known painter -- who knew?!)

The paper describes him as such:

Even though Duran has only called Tucson home for a decade, it almost seems as if this Mexican gypsy troubadour on a stomp box has been part of Tucson forever; he's a perfect fit with our desert mythology that embraces what is weird, sincere and/or triumphant.

It's a mythology that counters what our brethren do in Maricopa County. A mad superintendent of public instruction comes to put us in our place, and we ignore him. A mad Legislature and governor pass racist, arcane laws, and we dance and sing against them.

Well, Duran is a salve against all that madness. When he plays a cumbia, our hips move. When he sings a vallenato or corrido, our hearts ache.

Normally I might mock such florid prose describing a largely-unknown musician and published in a free weekly, but in Duran's case it's totally deserved. The man has a special presence.

Check out the feature from Tucson Weekly, and some video clips, here.

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