Cooder at home with Eastside sound

You’ve got to hand it to Ry Cooder. When he embraces a new musical culture, he doesn’t care where the adventure takes him. A decade ago, he traveled to Havana, where he stumbled upon the Buena Vista Social Club -- and got slapped with a hefty fine for violating the U.S. embargo of Cuba.

On Sunday, the acclaimed American guitarist found himself in a place where white men rarely tread -- a Pico Rivera nightclub called A Mi Hacienda. It’s normally a hot spot for banda and norteño music, one that’s patronized primarily by Mexicans.

Cooder came to showcase some of the vintage Chicano music featured on his recent album, “Chavez Ravine,” in which he set to music the social history behind the bulldozing of barrios where Dodger Stadium now stands. He appeared along with one of his guests on that album, Little Willie G., former lead singer of Thee Midniters and a legendary figure in the so-called Eastside sound, a Latinized blend of rock, R&B; and doo-wop made for cruising and close-dancing.

The two veteranos were backed by a noteworthy band from Boyle Heights named Ollin, which does its own Chicano fusion with a rich world music palette. Cooder’s connection to the band is through Ollin trumpet player Vincent Valdez, an artist he commissioned to depict scenes from Chavez Ravine on the sides of a customized ice cream truck that was provided by members of the historic Duke’s So. Cal. car club.

Duke’s sponsored Sunday’s show as a free tribute to its late cofounder, Julio Ruelas. An armada of lowrider cars paraded along Whittier Boulevard outside the cavernous club.

Wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a fedora, Cooder stood out in the all-Chicano crowd, towering over most fans. But if he was uncomfortable, he didn’t show it. The eclectic world-music maven has a knack for making himself part of the family.

Scott Rodarte, who heads Ollin with his twin brother, Randy, said before the show that he used to resent Cooder for “stealing” the story of Chavez Ravine, which had been dramatized earlier by the Chicano theater troupe Culture Clash in a 2003 play at the Mark Taper Forum, for which Ollin had done the music.

Eventually, though, Rodarte reconsidered his “unfounded grudge” against someone he now considers a fellow musical explorer.

“Once you talk to the person and see where his heart is, it doesn’t matter where he’s from,” said guitarist Rodarte, 37. “He loves good music that speaks right from the soul, and he really cares about untold stories.”

In a brief set, the dynamic 10-piece band focused mostly on Willie G.’s Midniter hits from the 1960s, spiked with Cooder’s measured but effective slide-guitar licks. The audience of old-time lowriders did not seem especially impressed with the guest star’s presence, though many got up to dance, a compliment in itself.

The turnout, short of a full house, underscored Cooder’s failure to spark wider interest in the Chicano sound as he has with other roots music, especially the Cuban son through Buena Vista and even norteño music in his work with Tex-Mex accordion ace Flaco Jimenez.

But by joining Ollin on Sunday, Cooder turned a spotlight on a struggling indie band that’s part of the new generation of Chicano music, one with a vision of the future instead of the past.

“I love these guys,” he said as he left the stage. “They’re righteous, authentic young people who know how to make this music live a little, rather than see it covered up.”

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agustin.gurza@latimes.com