Everybody loves mariachis!

I love this video of Mariachi Connecticut serenading a beluga whale at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium. The whale obviously enjoys the performance. Who wouldn't?

12/12 Celebrations in Durham

La Virgen de Guadalupe celebrations at the Immaculate Conception Church in Durham start tonight, FRIDAY 12/11 with a short procession at 6:30 pm.

Matachine dancers will be dancing in La Maldita Vecindad (informal name for an apartment complex on Hwy 98/Alston Ave) from 9 pm on; last year there was a shrine, snacks and drinks, and this went on all night until morning mass at the church.



A welcome change from when I first started going to these things is that the church will be open much earlier, from 11 pm tonight on, for Las Mananitas--singing "happy birthday" to the Virgin at her shrine inside the sanctuary, starting at midnight, with mariachis, roses, roses, and more roses, until 12/12 early morning mass at 5 am.

Saturday, 12/12 celebrations continue at 12 Noon with a longer procession through the Burch Avenue neighborhood. This is something worthwhile if you've never seen or walked in one before. I've never done it by daylight, as this used to take place Saturday night.

It's my personal feeling and opinion that you don't have to believe in anything, or be a Catholic, to come participate in this as a neighborhood community event. It promotes cultural diversity and some values I think most of us share: peace, community, dignity, and for a lot of people, faith. Check it out.

Links:

Full 2009 Schedule of Events PDF at Immaculate Conception Church website

2005 Indy Story and photo essay on the Virgin's Feast Day at Immaculate Conception Church, Durham

Foodies Alert: WINE AUTHORITIES Birthday Bash

WHAT: Wine Authorities 2nd Birthday Party
WHEN: 5-7pm Thursday, 9/10
WHERE: 2501 University (next to Thai Cafe), Durham, NC

Craig and Seth, the beloved local wine gurus at Durham's Wine Authorities, are celebrating the store's 2nd anniverary this Thursday (9/10), 5-7 pm.

There's no music connection other than that they love my radio show, Azucar y Candela, and play it in the store. (WXDU has renewed my timeslot for another semester for 6-8 pm Wednesdays.)

The birthday party will feature vendors: Locopops (selling wine-based pops) and Only Burger gourmet burger truck, as well as free samples from Artisan Cupcakes, Counter Culture Coffee, and more. Frank the balloon twister will be entertaining the under 21 crowd.

Searching for a nice birthday video, I came across this very homemade demo for Mariachi Nuevo Jalisco based in Lima Peru. Someone commented on the living room decor, but I gotta, say, that's one of my favorite parts! This is zoomtastic:



Happy Birthday, Wine Authorities!

Links:
Meet the Wine Authorities on WUNC's The State of Things

Mano a Mano with Nati Cano

After the Merlefest show, I got a few moments to chat with mariachi maestro Nati Cano. I offered to carry his vihuela to the bus as he descended some steep steps behind the Watson stage, but the 75-year-old wouldn't hear of it.

"I like a challenge," he said.

Sylvia P.: What's the average age of your musicians? You probably get a lot of young musicians coming in.

Nati Cano: Yes I do. The group has been together for 48 years. Some of them might be 40, others 30, others 20-something. It’s like a football team, or baseball, you have to change, you know.

Sylvia: There must be people who come out and audition, because they really want to be in the group.

Nati: No, no they don’t.

Sylvia: You recruit?

Nati: No, what happens is, that I already know about them, I see them in the other groups. I start hearing, they say, ok, this guy wants to join the group. And I say great. Let me go and just look.

Sylvia: You check it out first.

Nati: Let me just take a look, and that’s it. I just look. They don’t audition.

Sylvia: So everyone gets selected, hand-picked.

Nati: Oh yes, I already knew them. They had a reputation.

Sylvia: How do you train?

Nati: It’s a kind of a feeling, you know. They all know me, they know what I want. I want to project the happiness of this music, the feeling, the passion of this music. And that’s what I do. If I see musician who doesn’t show that to me, I really get to him, you know. I’m going to tell you something, with respect. We had a restaurant. I really screwed it over, I don’t want a restaurant anymore, but anyway. It was my restaurant, our restaurant. It was our house. We performed for so many years, 30 years or 35 years. One night I came in to the restaurant and saw a guy playing so bad, so, you know like [makes a flat, droning noise], you know. And when the show was over, I came to him, I said, "Antonio, what’s happening? You know, what happened to you last night? Were you hung over, or were you taking drugs…?" And he got offended. “I want you to know, I don’t take marijuana, I don’t take alcohol, I don’t take drugs.” You know what I told him? “Take something.”

Sylvia: Try it. [Laughter.]

Nati: I mean you know, it’s unacceptable. No you have to...so that’s my way of...keeping the group. They believe in me, we work together, we’re a team, and I’m proud of it.

Sylvia: How hard do you drill them, do you have frequent rehearsals? Are you just on the road all the time?

Nati: Yes, we have our own repertoire. But when let’s say, when we’re going to accompany Linda Ronstadt, we prepare for her ahead of time. And we accompany Lila [Downs], and Aida Cuevas, and another singer from Mexico...

Sylvia: Which one?

Nati: Eugenia León. She’s great. Great. And we accompany her, so we have to rehearse and we have to really...Because our reputation is right on the line. We have the reputation of being good mariachi. So I don’t want to take a chance.

Sylvia: It’s paying off, what can I say. It’s my first time hearing you live, and it's exquisite in person. The [Smithsonian Folkways] recordings, there’s such great clarity on there, but you sound like it could be the record in person, beautiful.

Nati: Oh my god, well. You hear those recordings?

Sylvia: I’m a big fan. We really enjoy your music, I’m on a college station [WXDU]...we love your records, they’ve been on our playlist.

Nati: Well thank you, that’s a compliment to us. Thank you very much. I hope you enjoy, and uh...I hope we get in touch, we can give you a serenade or something.

Sylvia: [Laughter] That would be great!

Nati: I know! [Laughter.] Well, thank you for your interest, ok?

Sylvia: Absolutely, you all have a good tour. Where you headed now, back home?

Nati: To Los Angeles, back to home again...That’s why I opened the restaurant way back in 1969, because we were travelling all the time. You know the routine, Vegas, Lake Tahoe, New York, I mean we were travelling all the time. And then I felt sorry for these guys, because a lot of them have families, like me. And I said, you know, this is not fine. Yeah, we were making money but, we never saw the families, you know. So that was the idea for the restaurant.

Sylvia: Is that still there?

Nati: No. I let that go.

Sylvia: When did you let that go?

Nati: A year and a half ago.

Sylvia: And so now just music?

Nati: Yes, just music.

Sylvia: And you’re going to be in D.C. [at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival] in June?

Nati: Yes. How do you know that?

Sylvia: Your singer [and musical director, Jesus "Chuy" Guzman] told me.

Nati: Oh good. Yes we will be in Washington. Are you in there?

Sylvia: I might drive up. I live in North Carolina.

Nati: Oh great. Maybe we can sing a song for you right there. We will, hey.

Sylvia: [Laughter] That would make my day.

Nati: We will, bless you for us. Thank you, thank you very much. I’ll see you in Washington. Give us a chance to say hello, ok? Bye bye.

Linda y Los Camperos

Natividad (Nati) Cano with his vihuela, an instrument he learned to play at age 6. From age 8 to 14 he studied violin at the Academy of Music in Guadalajara.

In 1987, his mariachis backed Linda Ronstadt on Canciones de Mi Padre and the follow-up Mas Canciones. More recently, he has recorded three albums on Smithsonian Folkways, winning a Grammy this year for Amor, Dolor y Lagrimas. He lives in SoCal, near Santa Barbara. He and his band will be back on the East Coast in June, performing at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in D.C. One of the three festival themes this year is "Las Amerícas: Un Mundo Musical/Music in Latino Culture."



These mariachis are a national treasure, and Linda takes obvious delight in being ensconced in the traditional Mexican music she grew up with. She can still belt out memorable high notes, lovely long sustains reminiscent of her pop hits, and emotional breaking notes native to the ranchera idiom. Not that bravura vocal performance seemed to come completely effortlessly to her anymore (if it ever did--Ronstadt has always been a careful, even cautious performer; I noticed she had a velvet-draped computer monitor discreetly placed center stage as a lyric prompter, and some kind of remote device in her hand). While I found some of her renditions of classic rancheras flawless, others were darn good or just ok (her "Gritenme Piedras del Campo" was one of the latter, for me, but I'm partial to Cuco Sanchez' interpretation). What makes her an authentic performer nonetheless, and one people really enjoyed hearing at Merlefest, is not really the fact that she came out of this Mexican tradition, but that she returned to it with the American-made craftsmanship of her own particular sound, based in pop, folk rock and retro '50s balladry.



Linda's sets were broken up by songs highlighting the other singers in Los Camperos (pictured above). When you factor in that all these guys play violin at concert level, as well as being outstanding singers, their talent is truly tremendous. I chatted with Jesus "Chuy" Guzman (right, obscured by violin) backstage, he has been with Nati Cano the longest and also serves as his musical director. These mariachis seem very proud of what they do; with good reason.

Eight fantastic dancers from the Ballet Folklorico Paso del Norte, based in El Paso, Texas, added dollops of color to the program.

"You should never separate dance music from the dancers. When you do it gets fast and stiff and weird," said Linda. "It's when we all started dancing to recorded music that it got weird."

Interesting opinion from someone who made her name during the era of recorded dance music as the highest paid woman in rock. Linda's friend Emmy Lou Harris, who performed at Merlefest the night before, was in the house (and walked right by me, so I'm told--I must have had my back turned!) as was her long-time producer John Boylan, whom a fan spotted backstage.


Only three photographers were allowed on this platform at a time, and only during her first three songs; we had five minutes each on the platform, we were also supposed to keep our camera lens below stage level (pretty much an impossibility, but we obediently sank to our knees). I'm not sure why Linda has so many rules for photographers, honestly it just made it comically difficult to get good photos of her. A real crap shoot!

Camperos vocalist Ismael Hernandez. He gave a special smile for the cameras, below, which is one of my favorite shots from the show.
(click on photo to see larger).

Mariachis Tonight

Whoa. The Winston-Salem Journal ran this short item about Linda Ronstadt headlining Merlefest today, but did they have to run such an unflattering image?

Perhaps all the official, copyrighted publicity photos require explicit permission to run. Well, I have my own photo/press pass at Merlefest this year, so I hope to return soon with some of my own.

That's right, kittens! I'm going to see those folk heroes of the Smithsonian label, Mariachis Los Camperos de Nati Cano, backing Ronstadt, pop icon of my late '70s youth and the only reason I became acquainted with Roy Orbison tunes like "Blue Bayou" (Did you notice how Linda's version puts a triplet backbeat under it, giving it a 'Latin' sway?) You probably already know that Ronstadt has Mexican-American ancestry via her father's roots in Tucson, but her maternal ancestors come from the Midwest, and Ronstadt has two adopted children. Nowadays, the only music she sings is ranchera, and her voice really does seem to be built for it, like on this tune "La Cigarra" originally from a movie by Linda's Mexican singing idol, Lola Beltran:



There's a little controversy about her in the Afro-Latin music world because of a project she commissioned of Barry Rogers, Eddie Palmieri's signature trombonist, shortly before his early death (at age 55) in 1991. There are people who believe disappointment contributed to it, since Barry and his wife, lyricist Lou Rogers, worked 3 years on the project, tailoring it specifically to Ronstadt, getting their friends to play for free on the demos against the promise of a future recording, only to see their work come to naught. I've always been intrigued by these tales of unreleased recordings by Barry Rogers, and widow Lou says she still owns all the rights to this music. She and son Chris Rogers (also a musician) both say the music is "wonderful," and would have been ahead of its time had Ronstadt gone ahead with it, presaging the Latin pop "crossover" boom.

More to come!

March Showers, April Flowers

Is it time yet to get excited about all the live salsa and festival gigs piling up in April?

Shakori Hills has done right by Latin music fans and set a nice double jewel in the crown for Thursday night (4/16): Jose Conde & Ola Fresca at the Meadow Stage at 9pm, topped off with Orquesta GarDel from 10:30-midnight in the Dance Tent. On Friday (4/16) Jose Conde will do a "Baby Loves Salsa" set for kids at 2:30 pm, then holds down the Dance Tent from 11:30 pm into the wee hours.

It is difficult for me to remain tight-lipped about what Orquesta GarDel has been working on in the woodshed these days. Yet keep silence, I must! At least for awhile longer...

GarDel pianist, composer and co-leader Eric Hirsh is so up and coming, I'm going to have to start referring to him soon as a "phenom." Next week, Eric will take part in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency at the Kennedy Center. Congratulations, Eric! You make us proud. Somehow, we will be able to hear his concerts on the internet, so stay tuned.

GarDel also has an unconfirmed appearance slated for next month's Copa Night at George's Garage. The way to find out about these things is not through George's, but via the Cobo Brothers Dance Company, who have a new website, www.ncsalsa.com; both of their sites were 404 on me a little while ago, will check back later. The Cobos announced it at their monthly party this past Saturday, but Eric says the date (April 11) is still tentative pending final confirmation of GarDel's availability. Ojalá.

More good clubbing news...DJ Salsa Mike brings live music to his Carmen's Tropical Night party again on Friday, April 24. The band? The Latin Project, co-led by local trumpeter Alberto Carrasquillo. Alberto is a conservatory-trained musician whose resumé in local bands includes GarDel and Carnavalito, but in Puerto Rico he played first trumpet with the brass impresario Rubby Haddock, among other first-call salsa bands.

If you're wondering why you haven't seen The Latin Project since last year's Earth Day at Durham Parks & Rec, it's because Charlotte has discovered them and has been hogging their favors. Come on Triangle, support your own Latin music scene! Big Kudos to Salsa Mike for booking them, and for bringing live music to his fiestas.

Speaking of Earth Day, Carnavalito plays at Durham's downtown celebration at the CCB Plaza on Saturday, April 25. The varied lineup includes Wigg Report. A week before, on Saturday, April 18, Carnavalito plays Raleigh's Earth Day festival too, at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Percussionist Beverly Botsford and The Old Ceremony will also hold court.

Completing the festival roundup, MerleFest is going to rouse me to make the trip west to Wilkesboro this year to see Linda Ronstadt and Los Camperos Nati Cano on Sunday, April 26. Cano's Smithsonian Folkways-signed mariachi band backs Ronstadt, whose heritage is Mexican-American, on this tour called "Songs of my Father / Canciones de mi Padre.",

Open Border Rock

Calexico, with their desert twang and mariachi brass, revisit the Cradle Wednesday (11/12), just back from a European tour.

To get a really good preview, check out an entire live show on Fabchannel that the Tucson sextet played in October.

Opening for them are The Acorn, a similarly ambient, wallpaper-of-sound folk rock quintet out of Ottawa.

Doors open at 8:30, show at 9:15. Tickets are $15.

Back story: Read The Miles Davis of Mariachi, my interview with Calexico's Jacob Valenzuela in the Independent Weekly in 2003.



UPDATE, posted Friday AM:

Calexico has grown in confidence since I heard them last, probably a couple of years ago. Joey Burns has really stepped up to the mic, literally, I can make out much more of the lyrics to their songs now in live performance. This is a good thing.

It's been awhile since I was in a rock club, and conditioned as I am now to hardcore salsa, there were a few times I had to check my expectations. It's a different (pleasant) sensation to hear indie rock in a club, the way the sound hits you makes different parts of the body tingle. The sea of aromatic humanity struck me as polite and nonaggressive, in non-dancing appreciation. Instead of Corona, empty PBR cans and Jamaica stripe bottles littered the edge of the stage. With salsa, you get used to an incredibly high level of technical fire and virtuosity, particularly in the horns and percussion, so the muted atmospherics favored by Calexico as they juggle a rotating parade of instrumental extras--marimba, accordion, French horn, peddle steel, something like an electronic shawm, etc.--took a different listener's mindset. It's a certain enchantment they've honed to fine points over the years.



Trumpeter Jacob Valenzuela (pictured, left), whom I interviewed in '03, sang a nice original song in Spanish, "Inspiración." Just like his trumpet playing, he's got a wide vibrato and warm sound to his singing voice, and the more intensely punctuated Latin rhythms of this tune caused a noticeable crowd reaction. I chatted with him after the show, he said he's contemplating a Latin solo project. Sounds good; hope he keeps me informed.