They call it “Latin Grass.”

It's a mixture of bluegrass, Latin flavor and Spanish lyrics. The quick beats and ever-evolving rhythms are also influenced by everything from rock and jazz, swing and folk, Americana, flamenco, gypsy jazz and classical music.

“It's almost a shame to put it in a category because a lot of their sounds don't fit in any category,” Snowflake Studio's Ed Billeaud said.

Billeaud, however, did say the Summit County band, Los Rojos Calientes' — or, “the Red Hots” — first CD, “Corazón,” is “a tremendous work of art.”

The CD begins with “Tantos Años,” a fast-paced tune that was the first song lead singer and guitarist Raul Quintanilla and mandolin player Mike Huberman ever played together.

“I wrote it a long time ago, but then I gave it to Raul; he started playing guitar on it and it changed into a different thing,” Huberman said.

“That's when we started calling it Latin grass,” Quintanilla said.

The two met at an open mic in Summit Cove. Quintanilla, a Peru native, had just moved to Colorado from Montana and wanted to check out the scene. His performance grabbed Huberman's attention.

“I knew right away we had to do something,” Huberman said.

Bassist Ryan Blizzard and viola player Angie Janzen had similar feelings when they first heard the Latin grass. Blizzard saw them performing at the South Park Music Tour with a different band — one that didn't have a bassist — so he contacted them. Then, at another open mic in Frisco, Janzen approached the group. “They were pretty unique with the Latin feel,” Janzen said.

“That's why I love open mics,” Quintanilla said. “That's where you see them in action.”

Now, three years after that first open mic, the band is ready to release its first album: “Corazón.”

“It's named after one of the songs on the CD that more defines our sound,” Blizzard said.

Corazón literally translates in English to “heart,” but in the sense it's used on the CD it means “sweetheart” or “darling.”

Love, relationships and broken hearts are a common theme on the album, but you'll need to speak Spanish to understand the words — about 60 percent of the songs are sung in Spanish. Some of the songs have English lyrics, others are instrumentals and some are sung in no language.

“Improvising with my voice gives me a freedom to express myself without lyrics,” Quintanilla said.

Song lyrics, however, are how Quintanilla learned to speak English. More specifically, the Beatles “Revolver” is what motivated him to learn the new language. “I wanted to learn what they were saying,” he said. Now Quintanilla speaks fluent English, but his Spanish lyrics help separate Los Rojos Calientes from other bands.

The whole band, however, adds bits and pieces to the music to make it what it is.

“When we write new songs, everyone contributes to it,” Janzen said.

“I throw this in, he throws that in; it's the blender effect,” Huberman said. “We had a lot of songs from the first couple months we were together, but our sound definitely evolved a lot.”

Since the band recorded the CD, a Mexican drummer nick-named “Pancho” has joined the band. Percussion, however, is almost entirely absent on the album.

“It really doesn't need it; all of the players are really skilled at adding percussion on their own instruments,” Billeaud said. “I was really impressed with the material they brought.”

“It came out better than I expected,” Blizzard said. “It's definitely something I'm proud of.”

The CD is available at Affordable Music in Dillon, Pika Bagel in Frisco and on the band's website, RojosCaliente.com.

Rojos will have a CD release party at 5 p.m. at Island Grill at Frisco Bay Marina today and at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Gold Pan Saloon.