Events and film kick off Thursday night with a happy hour from 5 to 8 pm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Filmmakers in attendance include Cuban writer/director Carlos Lechuga, Dominican Republic auteur Yanillys Pérez, and Colombian director Iván Gaona. There’s also a “Meet the Filmmakers” luncheon Saturday morning from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at Under the Volcano (2349 Bissonnet).

The documentary The Rolling Stones Olé, Olé, Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America works its magic as a typical Rolling Stones flick and yet this particular film, which chronicles the Stones’ 2024 Latin American tour, is so atypical of their filmography. Mainly because the fans the ever-aging rock group are playing for were raised in societies where rock and roll was banned.

When you or I watched a Rolling Stones concert in the 20th century it was preceded by having heard “Satisfaction” hundreds of time on the radio. Does anybody remember the 1998 duo of shows the Stones did at the Summit where they had a runway that led to a very small stage in the middle of the floor where they played a handful of songs up close and personal during the middle of their set?

For the majority of concert-goers at the shows depicted in Olé 3, they never had the pleasure of being able to turn on the radio and hear “Sympathy for the Devil” much less any of the rocking songs that defined an era. One sequence in Brazil shows the band playing in the rain. Yet another shows how “Sympathy” sounds when performed as a samba.

Olé 3 captures the enthusiasm of diehard fans, some of whom were literally arrested for owning verboten albums, whose societal worldview has undergone perpetual revolution. More than one scene shows members of the Stones interacting with fans, themselves fellow artists.

The main part of the story concerns the tour’s last date in Havana, Cuba, a city the Stones had previously never played. Contracts have to be signed, equipment has to be shipped and local politics have to be negotiated. Even when their staff locks down a date they have to move the show five days later because the first date conflicts with a visit from President Obama (the first US Presidential visit in 80 years). Then the new date is on Good Friday and the Pope issues a statement that threatens negotiations with the government. “The Pope is not our tour manager,” quips Keith.

But all you really have to say is that Olé 3 has a complete version of “Country Honk,” sung backstage by Mick with Keith on acoustic guitar.

Visit the MFAH website for a complete list of films presented as part of Latin Wave 12. Many of these films will not get domestic distributors and this is the only chance to see them.

Latin Wave 12 unrolls at the MFAH from Thursday, April 27 through Sunday, April 30.

Last year, Houston native Nathan Quick released an album, “The Mile.”  On it, he reminded me of part John Prine, part John Hiatt, and part Elvis Costello.  Quick was easily tapping in to the singer songwriter side of his music on the release.  This year, he returns with a three song EP, “City Lights,” where he sheds that singer songwriter sensation to a more rock meets classic rock emotive.  In three songs, Quick does a 180 degree turn on what you thought you knew about his sound; further expanding the realm in which he exists while impressing you on who he is an artist.

Quick doesn’t hesitate to get things started with the Black Keys meets Flat Duo Jets sounding “City Lights.”  The song departs from the softer side of things he employed on his last release.  There are elements of rockabilly, blues rock, and a hint of that throwback impression.  It works, as Quick’s gruff vocals rasp in and out of the track that adds a distorted guitar growl full of tone and the melody of rock’s past.  He even takes it further with a hook heavy chorus and a separated solo.  He keeps things more on the rock side of things when he ventures into the second song, “Just Hold On.”  Quick is definitely channeling more of Bruce Springsteen tone with the way he starts slow, picks up speed, then returns to the slower side on the song.  The chorus has dual vocals, and even emotes a more Rolling Stones feel with the groaning solo and falsetto background vocals.  This is a definitely different and more bluesy focus to Quick’s previous efforts, and it makes you wonder where this Keith Richards side to him came from.

Things close with the slower paced and almost Ryan Adams feeling “Dusk Til’ Dawn.”  It might be the acoustic timber of the opening, but Quick sheds that quickly with a more John Mayer meets Clapton type of chorus.  He cuts through that with a blues harp that feels like a second set of vocals.  I know that Quick likes tobacco, and maybe that’s where this impassioned and raspy vocal he’s employing is coming from.  Wherever its origin, it works for the artist on these three songs with ease.  Quick makes you forget his previous works while keeping you impressed with his chops as a performer.  The entire EP clocks in at under fifteen minutes, and commands another listen.  You can hear Quick perform “City Lights” live, when he holds his album release party this Friday at Fitzgerald’s upstairs.  The show includes Color Gravity, The Caldwell, and Ruckus, and the doors are at 8:00 with tickets between $10.00 and $12.00 for the all ages show.