Zach de la Rocha-Endorsed Music

Can't wait for Coachella to catch a glimpse of Zach de la Rocha? Then visit the Centro Cultural de Mexico this Saturday, where the Rage against the Machine frontman will play the role of enthusiastic supporter for Los Cojolites. Stateside, Los Cojolites barely register any excitement, but they're legends in Mexico, practitioners of the world's most beautiful music: son jarocho, a twinkling, pounding form native to the Caribbean coastal state of Veracruz. The group is the epitome of a living school: members emerge from workshops held by instructors in Jaltipán, the capital of son jarocho. Students then travel around the world as ambassadors not just for their musical school, but for son jarocho and Veracruz. De la Rocha has championed Los Cojolites in concerts and has even performed with them, although celebrity endorsements quickly evaporate under the rush of jaranas (high-strung mini-guitars), rattling donkey jaws, pounded-on boxes and soprano-ish male voices wailing about the beauty and injustice of the world. But beyond political radicalism, the music makes you twirl and twirl and twirl.

Los Cojolites at the Centro Cultural de México 310 W. 5th St., Santa Ana, (714) 550-5916. Sat., 7 p.m. $8; $5, students with ID. All ages.