The best Mexican music also includes boleros, huapangos and more.
Now the magic, mystery and beauty of Mexican music will be celebrated at a special concert Saturday night at the Instituto de Mexico Auditorium.
The event is billed as Mexico, Mexico, Mexico. The concert is being presented by Proart Interlatin USA and the Instituto de Mexico.
The list of singers and entertainers in this "Cancion Mexicana" concert is long and impressive.
It includes: Patti Malcolm, Mauricio Guizar, Alfredo Lomeli, Luis Loyo, Margarita Ramiro, Victor Perez, Brittney and Bridget Perez.
Also performiing are Tamara Herrera, Natalia Madrigal, Daniela Villasenor.
Malcolm said Vargas' latest recording is an "album with the prestigious Mariachi Vargas de Tecatitlan backing him up. Vargas has been performing in several venues in Mexico promoting this material which gives the ranchera style music a higher level of performance. Even though he has a tenor voice, he prefers to sing 'la Musica bravia' and huapangos."
She added that Mauricio Guizar was "born in the midst of great artistry as the grandson of the late Tito Guizar, international singer and movie star. Mauricio Guizar naturally followed his grandfather's foot steps and pursued an acting career In Mexico, where he has appeared in soap operas."
In addition, there will also be a "Cuadro folklorico" with the Mexicapan dancers and Mariachi Internacional. Musical arrangements and accompaniment for all singers will be by Jorge Infante and Mariachi Internacional.
The show is at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 31. Tickets are $25 for the event at the Instituto de Mexico Auditorium, 600 Hemisfair Park. Proceeds benefit the Proart Interlatin USA Educational & Community Outreach Annual Cultural Program.
For more details call (210) 710-4983, or visit www.prointusa.com.
Gorki Luis Águila Carrasco is a popular musician in Cuba. In 2003, he had just produced an award-winning video, and a radio station in Havana announced that Gorki was the third most popular rocker in Cuba. Then - at a rock festival in Pinar del Río (the westernmost Cuban province) in April 2003 - he was suddenly arrested on charges of drug trafficking.
Four months later, on 15 August 2003, the controversial Cuban rock artist was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment. His constant challenge to free speech in Cuba was silenced. During the brief trial, where Gorki’s attorney did only have ten minutes to present his client’s case, the Counsel for the Prosecution did not present convincing evidence. The circumstances leading to his arrest were such that no evidence of drug trafficking was presented.
On October 17, 2003, Freemuse launched an international campaign for the release of Gorki Carrasco, and requested the Cuban government to reconsider the doubtful court case against him.
Initially, Gorki was held under harsh conditions that seriously affected his health in Destacamento Cinco in the Provincial Prison of Pinar del Río. In 2004, he was moved to a minimum security prison just outside Havana. There, he was part of a prison salsa band.
In March 2005, he was granted conditional release.
Approximately 75 dissidents - writers, doctors and opposition politicians - were jailed in Cuba in 2003. The majority continue to serve time in the Cuban prisons.
On April 23, 2007, the Cuban music rebel was praised for his courage in a report on the American news network CNN where his new music got world-wide exposure.
"I've lost my fear
I've already been a prisoner
I've only got a few bones left
From up here the tyrant is watching you
You're playing his so that he'll oppress us"
These are new lyrics of Cuban musician Gorki Aguila and his band Porno Para Ricardo, ('Porno for Ricardo').
"If anything, Gorki's lyrics have become more, not less, political since his time behind bars," said CNN's Morgan Neill when he presented the new music of Gorki to the world on CNN, profiling what he termed as "the most outspoken voice in Cuba's rock scene".
Neill and his camera crew visited Gorki and his band in their rehearsal room where they are limited to practice and make their music once a week, behind closed doors in a room insulated with egg cartons, in an appartment which Gorki shares with his father.
The group told him that they are banned from playing live, and they distribute their music only via the internet and via handmade CDs which are passed hand to hand.
Last Monday August 25, Cuban police arrested dissident musician Gorki Aguila on a charge of "dangerousness," fellow band members said Tuesday.
Hebert Dominguez, the bass player in Aguila's punk rock band, Porno para Ricardo, said police detained Aguila at his home at 10 a.m. Monday.
Aguila, the lead singer, was arrested as he was about to record the final songs of the band's next record, according to a statement on the band's Web site.
"This new episode of harassment and persecution is occurring just as Porno para Ricardo is in the middle of recording its new record, which eliminates any possibility that this repressive escalation could be described as a 'coincidence,' " the statement said. "In Cuba, the voice of the brave is silenced by the regime, which doesn't hesitate to use intimidation and force."
An official at the state-run press office said Cuba had no comment on the arrest.
Aguila, 39, is an outspoken critic of Cuba's government. "Communism is a failure," he said in the cited 2007 interview with CNN. "A total failure. Please. Leftists of the world -- improve your capitalism."
Dominguez said authorities said Aguila's trial will take place Thursday. Police told the group's guitarist, Ciro Diaz, that Aguila faced a possible sentence of one to four years in jail.
The statement on the band's Web site said Aguila wasn't feeling well -- that he had inflammation in his lungs and was short of breath.
Cuba uses the charge of "dangerousness" to prosecute those whom authorities believe are likely to commit crimes. Under Cuba's penal code, habitual drunkenness and anti-social behavior are signs of a "state of dangerousness."
Free Gorki! Freedom of speech for Cuban musicians! Freedom for Cuba!