The Music of Jimmy Ojotriste

Written by Arturo Hernandez-Sametier

Narrated by Johnny Rey Diaz

A lush, nostalgic barrio romance reminiscent of Marquez and Allende. An orphaned boy with long hair to cover scars and a bewitched glass eye is raised by a collective of mariachis in East Los Angeles. Since childhood, Jimmy Ojotriste (sad eye) has busked the teeming Mexican restaurants of the Eastside with violinist Ray Chin and green-eyed tenor Victor Salcedo. At twenty, all three boys are in love, stuck, and one of them is dying. What follows is a lyrical quest through the Latin music underground of Los Angeles that will eventually take them from Tijuana to Andalusia. Steeped in the music of mariachi and flamenco, and the “brujeria”, sensuality, and street life of disco era Los Angeles, Jimmy Ojotriste is an intense, musical romp through a vanishing world in the company of characters you will miss dearly when it’s over.

“Gave me the feeling of reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the first time.” Amazon Review

“Romantic in the biggest sense of the word.” Goodreads Review

“Lovely novel about young mariachis finding their place in the world, soaked in a vibrant sense of place and time. Somehow captures that feeling of being twenty and seeing the world spread before you in a way I've rarely seen portrayed well.” Goodreads Review

“Wrapped in the sights and sounds of 1970s Los Angeles, vibrant and nostalgic, Hernandez explores the complex intersections of race, love, poverty and coming of age…and through it all we are serenaded by his lyrical descriptions of the life and music of the mariachi.” Tate Hurvitz, Phd. Grossmont College Literature Dept.

“…Definitely for music lovers and romantics. Lyrical scenes - odd and memorable characters. Anyone interested in flamenco, mariachi, and Hispanic culture will be immersed. I learned of the book through "Las Comadres" a Latino lit reading group at our bookstore.” Goodreads Review

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luna Triste Press, LLC
• Release date: Jan 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781735279725

Arturo Hernandez-Sametier

Raised in East Los Angeles, Hernandez-Sametier has been a teacher, counselor and principal in some of the most difficult urban and rural school environments across the U.S. and Indian Country. He recently served as a therapist for high-trauma, unaccompanied minors detained by U.S. immigration. In 2006, he was honored as the "national educator of the year" by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. A musician since childhood, the author still performs professionally. His first novel, "The Music of Jimmy Ojotriste" was drawn from memories of the East L.A. mariachis of his childhood.