Log on to discover what mariachi is all about
Tucson Citizen
April 11, 2002
Getting a handle on the history of the mariachi is, to quote the Firesign Theatre, "A bit like having bees live in your forehead."It's an oral tradition, for one, so written examples of mariachi literature are not just hanging out in dusty libraries and archives like old Mozart scores. There are a few books on the subject - mostly in Spanish, very rare and some suspect in their accuracy.To get to the bottom of the matter, University of Arizona sociology Professor Celestino Fernández is hard at work on a book on the subject. Recently, Fernández gave an illuminating lecture on the topic at the UA Medical Center's DuVal auditorium. Fernández, who has served on the board of the Bank One Tucson International Mariachi Conference for some years now, has been kind enough to allow us to share the full transcript of that talk, along with sound clips from the lecture, to promote this year's conference.It was a fascinating talk, filled with both historic facts and anecdotal experience. Fernández spent his early years (until age 9) in Santa Ines, Michoacán, and had been back recently to celebrate his grandfather's 100th birthday. Naturally, there were mariachis on hand for the celebration, and telling how that rural group serves the needs of its community helped to underscore the distinction between the "working mariachis" one encounters in the real world and the "show mariachis" one sees on television and at the mariachi conference. Plainly, Fernández's affections are with these grass-roots players, swayed in large part by the function they play in everyday life, uniting family and community in a tradition that spans the generations.Fernández' talk was logically arranged to explore such topics as the geographic and historical roots of mariachi music, the various theories on the origins of the word, the evolution of such ensembles, its ties with the Mexican film industry of the '30s-'50s, the traditional garb of its participants, the elements of style within the genre and the emergence of female performers in this originally all-male tradition.He closed the talk with musical illustrations of the range of mariachi music, from historic recordings of rustic early mariachis to some of the great show bands of today. Likewise, the range of material was broad and sometimes hilarious, from traditional sones (the rural dance music that is the root of the mariachi tradition) and canciones rancheras to mariachi covers of the Beach Boys' "California Girls," Elvis' "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and American Christmas standards.Fernández took questions from the roughly 150 people attending, answering queries about the gritos (the whistling and laughing that audience members engage in to spur the mariachis on), where one finds the best instruments, mariachi training, the charro tradition and more.Unfortunately, we will not be able to put sound clips on the Web site from Fernández's musical examples, though in weeks to come, similar examples of mariachi artistry will be added. Likewise, the Q&A session will need a little engineering cleanup before it can be added, although it should be available by April 25, when the conference is in full swing.Fernández's talk is a tantalizing glimpse into the invaluable book he's working on and only whets the appetite for its speedy release. In the meantime, we have the mariachi conference's 20th anniversary dead ahead (April 22-27). Viva Mexico! Viva mariachi!
