Fandango at the Wall : Creating Harmony Between the United States and Mexico

Multi-Grammy-winning producer and New York Times bestselling author Kabir Sehgal examines the relationship between the US and Mexico, accompanied by music from Grammy-winning musician Arturo O'Farrill and special guests, an extended foreword from historian Douglas Brinkley, and afterword by Ambassador Andrew Young.

The US-Mexican relationship has involved periods of great friendship with robust trade and loose immigration policies. But its history has also been beset by wars, drug trade, and human trafficking. With the latest xenophobic turn toward Mexico, this book contextualizes the latest swing in the up-and-down, two-hundred-year history of these two countries.

In a lyrical narrative reflecting on Fandango Fronterizo, an annual musical celebration held on both sides of the border wall, Sehgal addresses how the broken US-Mexico relationship has been repaired in the past and continues to adapt today. Fandango at the Wall provides clarity to the current debate regarding construction of the wall and America's posture toward immigration. Sehgal and his artistic collaborators brought over thirty musicians from various traditions to the San Diego-Tijuana border to record a musical repertoire composed of son jarocho songs from Veracruz, Mexico and Latin jazz. With these tunes accompanying a call-to-action narrative, Fandango at the Wall demonstrates how music can heal and provide a soundtrack for the US, Mexico, and beyond.

Kabir Sehgal is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of twelve books such as Coined and Jazzocracy. Among his works are six children's books that he has written with his mother such as The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk and A Bucket of Blessings. A multi-GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY award-winning producer, he has collaborated with artists such as Chucho Valdés, Arturo O'Farrill, Wynton Marsalis, Ted Nash, and Joey Alexander. Kabir is also a composer and musician who wrote an opera on the European debt crisis. Previously, he worked as a vice president at J.P. Morgan. He is a US Navy veteran and reserve officer who served on active duty with special operations in the Middle East. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the London School of Economics.

Arturo O'Farrill is a multi-GRAMMY award-winning pianist and composer. He is the founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance and the Director of Jazz Studies at Brooklyn College. Born in Mexico, he grew up in New York City. He received his formal musical education at the Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.