Banda el Recodo — the group’s full name is Banda Sinaloense el Recodo de Don Cruz Lizarraga — celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2013, and the Mexican Banda group hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. During the landmark year, the ever-evolving band — believed to be the first Banda act to release a commercial recording — was awarded with the Musical Legacy Award at the Billboard Mexican Music Awards. 

Banda el Recodo was founded by clarinetist Cruz Lizarraga in 1938, and he remained the bandleader until he died of cancer in 1995. The group is still in the Lizarraga family, however, and counts four of his sons among its members. Banda el Recodo still tours regularly — often playing in the United States — with a huge lineup of musicians playing clarinets, trombones, trumpets, tuba, and various percussion instruments, along with vocalists. Fans who buy tickets to a Banda el Recodo concert can expect a wide range of styles representing the massive swaths of musical ground — including Latin, big band, jazz and classical — they’ve covered over their hundreds of recordings.