¡Olé! Hats off to two decades of mariachi conference

The Bank One Tucson International Mariachi Conference has had ups and downs in its first 20 years. At worst, its Espectacular concerts have always been a fine show and at best, sublime.
It was an iffy proposition in 1983 when Tucson-born, now Orlando-based Mariachi Cobre transplanted the concept of a mariachi education and entertainment Super Bowl after seeing a similar, now-defunct conference in San Antonio. Even with the grand Lola Beltrán as its first guest artist and "El Mejor Mariachi del Mundo" (the best mariachi in the world) - Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán - organizers had to give away half the tickets at the first Espectacular concert.
But the conference quickly gathered steam and became an international destination for mainly Hispanic travelers from Mexico and nearly every corner of the United States.
By the '90s, the conference had grown so popular that a second Espectacular concert had to be added at the 10,000-seat Tucson Convention Center Arena. That move followed a year in which Tucsonans were steamed to discover they were shut out from their hometown event by visitors buying tickets in advance. In recent years, demand has softened and we're back to one Espectacular for each conference cycle.
In many ways, the Tucson conference has spurred similar events around the country. As Tucson succeeded, conferences sprung up in San Jose, Calif., Las Cruces, N.M, Los Angeles and other cities. Their organizers traveled to Tucson first to see how it was done.
The conference and mariachi music in general received a quantum boost in the mid to late '80s as hometown sweetheart and top-selling pop star Linda Ronstadt reclaimed roots with her "Canciones de mi Padre" and "Mas Canciones" CDs.
Suddenly, mariachi music was hip again to a new generation who had teased grandparents for playing "that old stuff." And it brought Ronstadt back in touch with her own family in a close way, too, as her father, Gilbert, and brothers Peter and Michael Ronstadt joined her for family harmonies during the conference's 10th anniversary Espectacular in 1992. That was among the best years in conference history, with memorable, exquisite sets and staging by Paula Tracy-Smuin.
Beltrán's three Tucson appearances were the stuff of legend. Her gutsy, passionate delivery of ranchera favorites sent audiences into fits of ecstacy. In 1994, almost two years before her death, Beltrán proved she could still shake rafters while drawing tears and gritos from even the stoniest hearts.
And in what was, for me, one of the most touching moments in conference history, she called Gilbert Ronstadt to the stage to thank him for his enthusiasm for the music, giving him a sarape that lay draped over a chair in his living room until his death.
Another moving year was 1996, when Tucson-born father of Chicano music Lalo Guerrero joined headliners, singing the unofficial national anthem of Mexico - "Cancion Mexicana," a tune he penned while a high school student here.
Another local hero, Adalberto Gallegos, crooned from the stage that year. And in 1997, the top-flight Mariachi Aztlán de Tucson High School earned a place on the Espectacular stage.
In 1998, conference organizers made a brilliant but poorly organized attempt to show the roots of mariachi music as part of Espectacular. But there was too much of the roots ensemble without a mariachi on hand to show how their music then became part of the repertoire. Audiences booed, and the experiment was dropped like a lead sombrero.
Pedro Fernandez turned the 1999 conference into a rock show, with security having to pull young girls off the stage as they tried to kiss the handsome singer.
Fernandez was backed by unequivocally the worst mariachi in conference history, wisely never named out loud. The group was unable to play in tune, let alone together. But the young girls were there to swoon, not critique.
Other great headliners over the years include Lucha Villa, Vikki Carr, Angeles Ochoa, Jose Luis "El Puma" Rodriguez and Aida Cuevas.
Without question, the conference performance low light was Lucero's droning, endless set during the 2000 conference. Never had it seemed more appropriate to yell "Less!" at the end.
But year after year, the mariachis have carried the show.
From Vargas and Cobre to the venerable Los Camperos De Nati Cano - a mainstay since 1987 - the groups have outdone themselves with regal arrangements of eclectic fare.
As the millennium waned, all-female mariachis joined the fray, with Mariachi Las Adelitas and especially Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles showing that women can excel in this traditionally male genre.
So 20 years after its start, a proud tradition continues where other conferences have come and gone.
And while competition may be steep and demand waxes and wanes, the Tucson mariachi conference - now the nation's longest continually running such event - still has the right stuff.