Jaime Lozano Premieres Songs by an Immigrant, Vol. 3 at Sony Hall with Broadway Stars

By Melissa Griegel…

Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography

www.griegelphoto.zenfolio.com

Mexican-born, award-winning, multi-hyphenated musical theater artist and storyteller Jaime Lozano celebrated the release of Songs by an Immigrant, Vol. 3 at a packed Sony Hall on Monday, August 25th. Lozano was joined by Broadway stars Florencia Cuenca (Real Women Have Curves), Tamar Greene (Hamilton), Didi Romero (Six), Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls), Rodney Ingram (Aladdin, The Phantom of the Opera), Marina Pires (How To Dance In Ohio), Mayelah Barrera (Much Ado About Nothing), Max Mendoza Crumm (Disaster!, The Connector), Joel Perez, (Fun Home), and Mexican regional singer Xavier Zazueta who made his New York City debut. Among many other honors, Lozano is the 2022 recipient of the American Theatre Wing’s prestigious Jonathan Larson Grant.

Jaime Lozano

The new album features award-winning Latin artists and Broadway stars and composers, including Grammy and Latin Grammy winner Tony Succar, Grammy-winning music producer TROOKO (Jeff Peñalva), multi-Grammy Award winner and National Medal of Arts artist-saxophonist Paquito D’ Rivera, Latin Grammy winner Jair Alcalá and his band El Plan, Tony, Grammy, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal), Tony Award nominee Lorna Courtney (& Juliet), Aline Mayagoitia (Real Women Have Curves, Jennifer Lopez’ Kiss of the Spider Woman) and most of the Broadway stars who performed at the concert. Released by Concord Theatricals Recordings, you can stream or download the album by clicking here: Songs By An Immigrant Vol. 3.

The Familia

Tamar Greene

Similar to Broadway composer and lyricist Joe Iconis, who is known for having his Broadway “family” that join him in concerts and appear in his shows, Lozano has his band of singers and musicians he calls “The Familia”. The Familia includes an actual family member, his wife Florenica Cuenca, who recently became the first Mexican immigrant to co-originate a lead on Broadway in Real Women Have Curves. Lozano’s group is appropriately named The Familia instead of La Familia, as Lozano and Cuenca have made a name for themselves doing “Spanglish” versions of Broadway shows and songs, and many of Lozano’s songs include both Spanish and English lyrics.

Florencia Cuenca

Didi Romero

Many of the songs on his new album are about the challenges that many first- and second-generation U.S. immigrants face such as finding a new home, learning a new language, dealing with discrimination, and pursuing the American Dream. Lozano’s lyrics are as much a love song to America as it is to his wife, with many of his songs referring to el corazon, the heart. Lin-Manuel Miranda referred to Lozano as the “next big thing” on Broadway and admires how hard he and his wife have worked their way up as immigrants to becoming part of the fabric of the New York City musical theater scene. Miranda explained, “There is the process of leaving your homeland, there is the journey, there is the dislocation of being in a new world, the culture shock of how that world sees you. Jaime honors that journey and breathes astonishing musical life into it on this album: he’s done ten times the work to bring you this mosaic.”

Mayelah Barrera

Krystina Alabado

From his seat at the keyboards, Lozano tells heartwarming stories about his journey to the United States from Monterrey, Mexico, about falling in love (he proposed to Cuenca in front of the Richard Rodgers Theatre!), getting married, and having a son in the United States. “I am a proud Mexican immigrant pursuing my dreams and a better life in this beautiful country,” said Lozano. “Our stories matter in these challenging and very uncertain times. My songs and my art are the way I can raise my voice. We are hard-working, strong, brave, honest and generous people, and it is my hope that my people can recognize themselves in these songs. These are our stories. These are our songs to sing out loud, to laugh with, to cry, to dance. We are a community, a Familia. We are together. Community is what has helped me to get through during these challenging times, This concert is a celebration of our community. A celebration of who we are. I speak up using my music, my songs.”

Max Mendoza Crumm

Xavier Zazuetta

The artists were accompanied by an 18-piece band of acclaimed New York City musicians that included Jaime Lozano (piano, guitar, vihuela), Yahir Montes (guitars), Saúl Cosme (guitars), Joel Mateo (drums), Jonathan Gómez (percussion), Ruben Rodriguez(bass), Alberto Toro (reeds), Alex Hamlin (reeds), Hugo Moreno (trumpet), Alejandro Bert (trumpet), Nick Grinder (trombone), Michael Boscarino (trombone), Taya Ricker (violin), Ludovica Burtone (violin), Sunjay Jayaram (viola), Agustín Uriburu (cello), and George Sáenz (accordion).

Strings

Rodney Ingram

Songs by an Immigrant, Vol. 3 features arrangements and orchestrations by Lozano and Jesús Altamira and lyrics by Lozano, Georgie Castilla, Reynolds Robledo, Nathan Tysen, David Davila, Neena Beber, Marina Pires, Tommy Newman, and Florencia Cuenca. The album is produced by Lozano and Demián Cantú, co-produced by Victoria Kühne and Sean Patrick Flahaven and executive produced by Jaime Lozano & The Familia. It was recorded, edited and mixed by Cantú and mastered by Oscar Zambrano.