Sergio Mendoza
• Bandleader, keyboardist
• Age: 28
Mendoza is the brains behind Y La Orkesta but has played with a few groups over the last decade, including The Jons, Seven to Blue, Descarga and Latino Solido.
Big-band music is in his blood. His grandfather was a sax player with big-band ensembles for years, playing at venues throughout Sonora. Mendoza said this is the first band he's been in that his father, Victor Mendoza, has liked.
"He would only show up to special CD-release parties for The Jons and Seven to Blue," Mendoza said. "He has come to every one of Y La Orkesta's shows."
Salvador Duran
• Maracas, vocals
People are also reading…
• Age: 59
Duran is the elder statesman of Y La Orkesta and one of the most traveled. The eclectic musician, born and raised in Mexico, has toured extensively with Calexico, often opening the group's shows and performing as an accompanist.
Duran plays several instruments and sings only in Spanish. His vocals are distinctive, and he helps write the lyrics for Y La Orkesta's original works.
"We are very organic when we write songs," Duran said. "We try to bring elements that appeal to everyone, teenagers as well as older people."
Sean Rogers
• Upright bass, electric bass
• Age: 31
Rogers came up on the East Coast, earning his keep in bands in New Hampshire and Philadelphia. He moved to Tucson in 2000 and has since played with Calexico, Golden Boots, Naïm Amor and the Silver Thread Trio.
Rogers met Mendoza while working with Calexico. He was unfamiliar with mambo music when asked to join earlier this year but felt up to the task.
"It is definitely challenging," he said. "You have to keep your eye on Sergio for cues. At the same time, you have to hold it together and make it look like you're not trying so hard."
Jonathan Villa
• Trumpet
• Age: 30
Villa is one of Mendoza's oldest friends and one of the founding members of The Jons, a band made of friends from Nogales High School that is still active in Tucson.
When he isn't selling cell phones, Villa is dedicated to music. He has been pleasantly surprised by Y La Orkesta's popularity.
"We knew it was going to do well because we love this music and we knew people would love it too," Villa said. "We just didn't know it was going to take off as fast as it did."
Javier Gamez
• Trumpet
• Age: 28
Gamez is another founding member of The Jons. He attended the University of Arizona on a jazz scholarship but ended up majoring in business.
Today he helps run multiple family businesses in Nogales, including a water bottling company and a gas station.
Gamez said he has always been exposed to a wide range of music, including mambo.
"You don't hear mambo anymore," he said. "I was chatting with a couple at our Congress show, and they said we took them back to their youth."
Michael Carbajal
• Trumpet
• Age: 34
Carbajal is a Desert View High School graduate and started playing professionally with the band Latino Solido when he was 15.
He met Mendoza in Solido, and eventually migrated over to play in The Jons and Seven to Blue.
Carbajal is a little more skeptical when it comes to Y La Orkesta's popularity.
"I've been doing this long enough that I'm well aware of the rise and fall of bands," he said. "Something really cool and hip gets tired after a while. I am approaching it for what it is right now. If it gets bigger and better, I'm all for it."
Marco Rosano
• Baritone saxophone, clarinet
• Age: 35
Once a music teacher, Rosano splits his time nowadays between repairing wind instruments and playing music.
Aside from Y La Orkesta, Rosano and his brother, Dante, have their own duo, called The Rosano Brothers Virtual Quartet.
Rosano said the mambo group keeps him on his toes.
"I'm still trying to get a handle on it," Rosano said. "I have never really played Latin music, and I have a really bad memory. It's hard to remember all the parts that I need to play."
Brian Lopez
• Electric guitar
• Age: 26
Lopez is a Tucson born-and-raised, classically trained guitarist who is making a national name for himself as a member of the psychedelic rock band Mostly Bears.
Lopez was recruited by Mendoza to give the band a more contemporary and experimental feel.
"I think Sergio likes me above other classically trained guitarists because I'm more out there," Lopez said. "It's pretty cool. He let's me do what I want to do."
Jason Urman
• Tenor saxophone
• Age: 27
Urman is a financial auditor and another founding member of The Jons.
As one of Mendoza's good friends, Urman is proud of the leadership role his buddy has taken on. He also likes his new moves.
"We were joking the other day about how Sergio has become a much better dancer," Urman said. "He must be watching videos or something, because he has improved."
Jack Sterbis
• Timbales, percussion
• Age: 33
Sterbis is a Chicago-born percussionist who advises incoming foreign students and faculty at the UA during the week. Mendoza originally recruited Sterbis from his blues band, The Little Kings, to perform as part of Seven to Blue.
Sterbis was all for that project. But Y La Orkesta? Not so much.
"I wasn't so sure I was digging it when Sergio asked," Sterbis said. "But there wasn't anything Sergio has asked me to do that has sucked. I saw it as a way to play with some of the guys I hadn't played with before."
Larry Lopez
• Drummer
• Age: 49
Lopez has been an electronic tech with Tucson Water for more than 20 years. Musically, he has performed in mostly top 40 cover and Tejano bands since his teens.
As the second oldest member of Y La Orkesta, Lopez said these gigs can be just as exhausting as they are satisfying.
"I had to get back into playing shape," Lopez said. "This stuff is really uptempo. I've got to stay on top of it. Sergio is always giving me the evil eye when I slow down."
