DAVID HIDALGO, "ONE TIME, ONE NIGHT"

I've always liked Los Lobos, but have only really heard a cut or two here and there. Hidalgo's playing on this song really floored me-- it sounds like a much better version of what I'm trying to do. I'd guess his lines are influenced by traditional Mexican instrumental styles, but it sounds to my ear like some Scotch/Irish fiddle-tune vocabulary too. (A little ballad-mode Hendrix too, at the top.) I'm not qualified as far as knowing the history of those styles, so I don't know if there was any cross-pollinating going on before the "modern" era, but this need not matter to the player (like myself!) considering stealing from Hidalgo.

I need to listen to this a lot more, but so far I hear a blend of major pentatonic and mixolydian modal approaches, along with a pretty steady stream of 2/4 sixteenth notes. Add to that an excellent example of how a Fender can be trashy and twangy both. Beautiful playing throughout-- he does a great job of shifting from one kind of line to another, which makes a long solo seem short to the listener. The Allmans used to do this kind of thing, too-- a word to the wise!