Jose Cuellar

José Bernardo Cuéllar (April 3, 1941 – January 21, 2026), also credited as José B. Cuéllar and known musically as Dr. Loco, was an American anthropologist, musician and educator. He was professor emeritus of Latina/Latino Studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU), where he taught courses in Chicano/Latino studies, music, and cultural performance. Cuéllar is recognized for his work as a scholar of Chicano culture and as the bandleader of Dr. Loco’s Rockin’ Jalapeño Band, as well as for his contributions to the multimedia project surrounding the film Alambrista: The Director’s Cut and his research and performance with ancient Mesoamerican ocarinas at Harvard University. As a high school senior, he used savings originally intended for business school tuition to purchase a tenor saxophone, a decision he later described as pivotal in redirecting his life toward music and cultural activism.

Beyond his teaching, Cuéllar has been associated with the Moses Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project (MMARP) at Harvard University, an interdisciplinary initiative on Mesoamerican religions and cultures.

Music and performance Cuéllar is internationally known as "Dr. Loco", the founding director of Dr. Loco’s Rockin’ Jalapeño Band.

He produced and performed on four music recordings with the band: Con Safos (1991), Movimiento Music (1992), Puro Party (1995), and Barrio Ritmos & Blues (1998). He also composed and performed the musical soundtrack for the director’s cut of the film Alambrista!.

David Carrasco wrote that “it’s really Dr. Loco’s music that makes a new version of the film,” giving the story “new nuances and new power.” As a Hrdy Fellow at the Peabody Museum in 2012, he was invited to research and record more than two hundred ocarinas from the museum’s collections. In an article titled “They Needed to Be Heard,” Davíd Carrasco describes Cuéllar as an anthropologist and musician who sought to “breathe life” into the instruments by playing them again after centuries of silence.

Harvard Magazine reports that a performance by Cuéllar led curators to reconnect the instruments he was playing with hundreds of similar ocarinas stored in the museum’s vaults. His work contributed to the exhibition Ocarinas of the Americas: Music Made in Clay, where his performances helped reintroduce ancient Mesoamerican soundscapes to modern audiences.

Honors and awards Cuéllar’s honors, awards, and grants include: Ford Foundation Grant (2001–2003) Pillar of Achievement Award, Golden West College (2003)

Selected works

Recordings Con Safos (1991), with Dr. Loco’s Rockin’ Jalapeño Band Movimiento Music (1992) Puro Party (1995) Barrio Ritmos & Blues (1998) Soundtrack for Alambrista: The Director’s Cut

Publications