Chuy Martinez. Photo by Mel Minter.
Chuy Martinez (guitar, vocals) and Oti Ruiz (harp, violin, requinto, vocals) came to music via very different paths that intersected very sweetly. Martinez learned to play guitar while working as a migrant farmworker in California, a job he started at age 12, when he fled from an abusive foster home. Joining the the United Farm Workers Union at 16, he worked rallies in many states as an organizer and musician. Ruiz, orphaned at 11 and growing up with his grandmother in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, started playing at age 13. He studied at the Music Conservatory in Xalapa and went on to tour the world with internationally renowned groups.
Oti Ruiz. Photo by Mel Minter.
In 2001, fate or luck or the angels, call it what you will, brought them together in
Albuquerque at trying times in their lives. Playing Latin American music together brought solace and direction, and bore fruit: within a year of meeting, they produced their lovely first CD, Pa’ Uste’, a passionately
delivered collection of popular and folkloric music from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Their artistic collaboration has continued ever since. Unfortunately, their day jobs prevent them from playing out very often. Martinez is Old Town manager/curator for Albuquerque’s Cultural Services Department/Community Events and is well-known as the host of Lo Maduro de la Cultura, a popular public-access TV show on the arts. Ruiz teaches at Coronado Elementary and is music director of La Rondalla de
Albuquerque. That makes their concert at the Outpost this Friday, May 10, where they’ll be joined by John Mancha (guitarrón, accordion), a rare and special event.