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The Ethnic NewsWatch
Hispanic
February 28, 2000
SECTION: Pg. 28 

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HEADLINE: The Hot New Sound of Tradition: The Latin music explosion isn't all about Ricky Martin. Traditional Mexican music is adding spice to the mix

BYLINE: Diaz, Katharine A.

BODY:
The Hot New Sound of Tradition: The Latin music explosion isn't all about Ricky Martin. Traditional Mexican music is adding spice to the mix.

Many of you may remember hearing your grandparents play their favorite Guty C rdenas album or your dad belting out his favorite Jos Alfredo Jim nez song. You may even remember watching your mom practically swoon while listening to Javier Sol s. But as you grew up, you were perhaps more moved by the sounds of the Beatles or the Grateful Dead. So why is it that after a recent trip to your favorite music store you came home with the latest CD by Emilio or Nydia Rojas? Why is it that whenever the Ballet Folkl rico de M xico of Amalia Hern ndez comes to town, you rush to buy tickets. Why is knowing the lyrics to El Rey suddenly so important?

What's more, does your son suddenly want to join his elementary school's ballet folkl rico? Is your daughter pressuring you to buy her a charro outfit so she can look her best while performing with her high school's mariachi?

This sparked interest in popular Mexican music is related to interest in world music overall, says Ramiro Burr, author of the Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music (New York: Billboard Books, 1999), music critic and journalist for the San Antonio Express News, and a columnist for Billboard magazine. "After decades of listening to music that is the result of computerized programming and that's highly synthesized with drum machines and voice manipulators, there is an appreciation of world music or roots music," says Burr. "That's why mariachi music and anything that has folk roots is enjoying a resurgence. It's real and authentic. It's connected to something. It's not fabricated, it's not synthetic."

Well, if the resurgence has affected you, you are not alone. Interest in Mexican music, which has had its ups and downs over the years, is definitely on an upswing. Radio stations in major cities that program regional and traditional Mexican music top their markets and not just in the Spanish-language category. There is not one but two Tejano music award programs. In addition, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), which recognizes Mexican and other Latin music during its annual Grammy awards show, is adding the new Latin Grammy awards next year, sponsored by the NARAS-affiliated Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, during which distinct styles of Mexican music will also be honored.

Getting in touch with our roots is a big reason why this music is enjoying such popularity. Fans, industry experts, musicians, and ethnomusicologists still note that Linda Ronstadt's 1987 Canciones de Mi Padre recording and subsequent tour was a lasting turning point.

"I think that was the beginning of this renewed interest," says Ren Benavidez, president of the Association of Mariachi Educators and business manager of the San Antonio-based Mariachi Connection. "It told Hispanics that it's okay to be who we are, and for some reason kids have really taken to it. It's a real positive kind of music."

Burr agrees. "We all have roots. We have to acknowledge it, identify it, and celebrate it because we are multilingual, multicultural."

Mariachi Lives

Mariachi music may be the most universally recognized form of traditional Mexican music. In fact, many consider it one of the great gifts that Mexico has given to the world.

While the origins of mariachi music go back hundreds of years, it was in the nineteenth century in the state of Jalisco that it evolved into the form that would be recognized by today's fans. Yet, even then, most groups were not generally known outside of their communities. That started to change in the thirties. Many historians note that when Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitl n was invited to play at the inauguration of President L zaro C rdenas in 1934, the status of mariachi groups began to change. What had been considered peasant music was heartily embraced by cosmopolitan urbanites.

It was also about this time that mariachi groups began wearing the traje de charro -- waist length jackets and tightly fitted wool pants adorned with embroidery or studded with silver buttons. That image, topped by the wide-brimmed and highly ornate sombrero, has not changed much over the years, and the image of a well-dressed mariachi is still striking.

But uniform aside, it is the music that appeals to audiences. "When you see a full-blown mariachi up close, it is always impressive," observes Burr. "It's like sitting in the middle of an orchestra. You hear the piercing sounds of the wind instruments, the horns blaring, the heavy bass vibrating, not to mention the tortured lyrics of the singer. Even if you don't know the language, you can understand the passion being brought out. It's honesty that always transcends not only cultures, but generations."

Although the mariachi group and its music have remained pretty much intact over the years, that doesn't mean that it hasn't evolved, especially on this side of the border. Experimentation includes adding instruments not traditionally identified with mariachi music and flirtation with different styles of music. "You see a little bit of crossover with some groups," says Benavidez, who is also director of Mariachi Angeles del Cielo. "There are groups that will record an album and do one banda style piece or a tr o style piece. They may even do classical pieces, experiment with English tunes. It shows the versatility of the mariachi group."

Whether or not you approve of such experimentation, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a mariachi group, because they can be found in just about every state. While they may be clustered in the Southwest, you will find them in Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and other unexpected places. You will also find many all-female mariachi groups, such as the Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, formed in 1993.

To indulge yourself in the ultimate mariachi experience, you can attend one of the many mariachi festivals and conferences that have sprang up over the last few years. If you visit the Web site www.mariachi.org, you will discover that last year there were more than 30 mariachi festivals, conferences, and concert performances at major venues. Some of the best known include the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, which will celebrate its eighteenth anniversary this year; the Mariachi USA Festival, which celebrated its tenth year at the famed Hollywood Bowl last year; the San Jose International Mariachi Festival and Conference, which is going into its tenth year; and the Ford and Lincoln Mercury's Mariachi Vargas Concert and Extravaganza, which was founded in San Antonio in 1979 originally as the International Mariachi Festival. Other festivals are held in Omaha, Chicago, Saratoga, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C.

If the number of festivals and conferences is surprising, even more so is the number of schools -- from elementary to high school level -- that offer instruction in mariachi music and that have their own performing groups. At the university level, several institutions offer courses with credit.

At the University of Texas Pan American in Edinburg, Dahlia Guerra has taught a class in Mexican folk and popular music since 1989. The university also has a credited course focusing on mariachi music.

The success of the course, says classically trained Guerra, now chair of the music department, comes from the high standards it sets for the students. "I wanted it to be as polished and as advanced as it could be musically in the classical sense. I wanted to approach it in a very professional musical way." As a result, all of the members in the performing group read music and many have taken music theory.

In Los Angeles, two organizations have been created to support student groups in the public schools. The Mariachi Heritage Society, formed in 1991 by Jos L. Hern ndez, head of the Mariachi Sol de M xico, has provided music instruction to more than 4,500 students for free or for a nominal fee. Today, some 650 students in six schools are benefiting from the society. The Mariachi USA Foundation, founded by Rodri J. Rodr guez and Oralia Michel, was founded in 1990. In December, several schools were awarded grants of $1,000 to $2,000 to help with their mariachi music studies.

Instructors all note how the music empowers young people. "Students are very excited to see their culture represented in their schools," says Guerra. "It gives them pride in who they are." Benavidez adds, "They learn confidence, discipline, and teamwork. They build up self-esteem by having to be in front of an audience." The added benefit is that these young people also keep mariachi music and its traditions alive.

Tejano, Conjunto y Norte o

But mariachi music isn't all there is, and other regional styles are enjoyed throughout the Southwest. These include conjunto, Tejano, and norte o.

According to Burr, conjunto is the folk-based rural music of the Southwest. It features an accordion and a bajo sexto (bass guitar), and maybe a drummer. Essentially it is a three- or four-man combo that sticks to polkas, simple rancheras, and corridos. The first conjuntos were formed in the twenties, and the fathers of con junto are Narciso Mart nez from San Benito, Texas, and Santiago "El Flaco" Jim nez, Sr., from San Antonio.

"Tejano is the kind of music that came out of the big cities," says Burr. "It took the original conjunto elements and added all of the modern trappings like keyboards, electric guitar, and flashy outfits and big lights. The groups modernized the music and made it more contemporary for today's kids." Tejano's most famous ambassador was its shining star, Selena. Although she was tragically killed in 1995, she continues to fuel interest in the music.

Norte o music is much the same as conjunto, with the accordion and bajo sexto also figuring in the instrumentation. "People who are not familiar with the music cannot distinguish them," explains Burr, who adds that norte o groups tend to play more corridos.

Ethnomusicologists have much to say about the social, political, and economic significance of the music. Much has been written about its history, including the evolution of la orquesta tejana and the emergence of la onda chicana, which rose to prominence during the heady days of the Chicano Movement in the sixties. In The Mexican American Orquesta: Music, Culture, and the Dialectic of Conflict (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999), Manuel Pe a writes that" ... in the general cultural reevaluation carried out under the banner of the Chicano movement and its Renaissance, the conjunto (and m sica norte a generally) experienced an aesthetic reversal. This hitherto stigmatized style was suddenly upgraded to the status of cultural treasure to be venerated, not rejected."

Historical and sociopolitical implications aside, Cynthia L. Vidaurri, coordinator of the Latino Cultural Resource Network for the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, suggests that the important thing to remember about this music is that "it's the music that's played at dances and weddings, even funerals. It is part and parcel of people's everyday life. It serves the local aesthetics of the community." (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings recently released a CD titled Taquachito Nights: Conjunto Music from South Texas.)

The common denominator of the music is the accordion, an instrument that made its appearance in Northern Mexico and South Texas in the late 1800s, brought by German settlers. Its prominence in the music today has given it an unexpected appeal. If in the past young people cringed at the thought of playing it, they don't any longer.

At the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) in San Antonio, Pilar Chapa, director of the Xicano Music Program, reports that all of the accordion classes are very popular. "We have to keep increasing the number of classes we offer because the classes always fill up right away. We have kids starting as young as six years old and we have adults in their eighties."

While mariachi festivals far outnumber conjunto festivals, fans do flock to San Benito for its festival and to San Antonio for its Tejano Conjunto Festival, which consists of six days of conjunto, conjunto, and more conjunto. Activities feature a recital by students enrolled in GCAC's accordion classes, symposiums and other educational programs, and performances by some of the top and up-and-coming bands.

"About 40 percent of the people who attend the festival are out-of-towners," says Chapa. "We have people who plan their vacations around the festival, and they come from California, Minnesota, Montana, Canada, and even the Netherlands.

The 19th Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio, 2000, will be held May 9-14 at Rosedale Park. Already lined up are such Tejano/conjunto giants as La Tropa F, Roberto Pulido, Mingo Sald var, Eddie Gonz les, Rub n Vela, the Hometown Boys, David Lee Garza, and Flaco Jim nez.

Although the industry is dominated by male performers, women continue to make inroads. This was most evident in January when the Texas Folklife Resources presented "Las Super Tejanas," a showcase of talented Latina singers and musicians at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. Featured artists, covering additional genres of music, included Tish Hinojosa, Shelly Lares, Las Madrugadoras, Eva Ybarra, and Rosie Flores.

Will the interest in traditional and regional Mexican music continue in the years ahead? "Latinos are the fastest-growing population in this country," says Burr, "and that sets the backdrop for all the things we are seeing in the country from the explosion of Ricky Martin to the mambo hit tune by "Little" Louie Bega to the growing appreciation of Latin music whether it's Carlos Santana, Marc Anthony, or Selena. The music is continuing to stay hot, and this country is continuing to be transformed."

Article copyright Hispanic Publishing Corp. ********************************************************

ETHNIC-GROUP: Hispanic