Tucson's mariachi showcase sparked revival of the music

Steve Carrillo and his Mariachi Cobre return to Tucson.

DANIEL BUCKLEY
Tucson Citizen
April 24, 2003

The Mervyn's Tucson International Mariachi Conference is upon us again, now 21 years old. That makes it old enough to drink, and old enough to reflect as well.
And if the conference could reflect, what thoughts it would have. It is, after all, the grand-pappy of such events, both here in America and in Mexico - the longest continuously running mariachi conference in the world.
Its influence is everywhere, from the bevy of conferences that followed it, to the emergence of mariachi programs as part of the music education programs, both here and around the United States. Its popularity and the pride it has instilled in Hispanics around the globe has caused even folks in the homeland of the mariachi - Guadalajara and Mexico City - to transplant the idea. And by showcasing the artistry of some of the greatest players in the genre, it has given birth indirectly to the proliferation of mariachi symphonic pops programs around the U.S.
Of course we also need to credit the group that started the whole mariachi movement in America back in the 1960s - Tucson's Los Changuitos Feos (The Ugly Little Monkeys). Founded by an Irish Catholic priest, Father Charles Rourke, the program intended to give pride, purpose and discipline to young Hispanic kids has paid dividends a thousand fold, and continues to this day. Among its first members were the founders of Mariachi Cobre - one of the top-ranked mariachis in the world, and some may argue the top contender for Mariachi Vargas' crown. The Changos has fed the best mariachis in the world with great players and singers steeped in the tradition, and amplified by the things they learned in the workshops of Tucson's conference. And as importantly, the Changos' revolutionary idea of providing college scholarships to its members has paid off with a new generation of well-educated Hispanics making their mark in fields from medicine and business to music.
We're already seeing both former Changos and graduates of other mariachi programs throughout our city return as educators in and outside our community. One is Jeff Nevin, who recently published the first English-language book on mariachis, "Virtuoso Mariachi" (see related stories). We're likely to see more books coming out detailing the history and dynamics of the mariachi, and the sociological impact of the mariachi movement.
A film, "Viva El Mariachi," produced by Al Gonzalez, is in postproduction, featuring Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, as well as mariachis Champaña Nevin, Zihuatlan, Coculense, Las Adelitas, Sol de America, Las Divas, and interviews with such authorities as historian Jonathan Clark and female mariachi pioneer Laura Sobrino.
And as one looks at Spanish-language television, it is striking how many artists - young and old - are heavily involved in the mariachi tradition. In short, 21 years after the first conference, mariachi music is thriving where it might have been marginalized at best by now were it not for the renewal of faith in the art form that started here in Tucson.
There are a few new wrinkles to this year's conference. One has already passed - the new folklórico dance showcase concert that featured Ballet Folklórico de la Universidad De Colima, under the direction of Rafael Zamarripa Castaneda.
If you missed that one, you can read about it by going to our Web site (www.tucsoncitizen.com). You can also see the dancers perform with Los Camperos de Nati Cano and Mariachi Cobre on tomorrow night's Espectacular concert.
Another, according to Mariachi Conference board president Delfina Alvarez, is a focus on a different segment of the repertoire.
"One of the things that we tried to do this year in the selection of the music for the mariachi workshops is focus on the music of yesteryears," she says. "Trying to bring back to the students music that they are not as familiar with but that's very traditional." She's keeping secret what the big student-and-headliner piece is going to be, but feels confident older folks in the crowd, and many younger ones will be singing along.
"I think when people hear it a lot of them are going to remember their abuelitas (grandmothers) and mothers with this song."
She notes as well that Nati Cano's group will be presenting a cluster of rarely-heard corridos this year.
If I might again plug what I feel is the unsung event of the conference, get down to the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall tonight for the Student Participant Showcase.
Here you'll see tomorrow's stars in action. So frequently when I've attended this event, I've been left slack-jawed by the awesome talent of student groups from around Tucson, the United States and Mexico. The future of mariachi is in great hands.