Saturday, March 19, 2011

A Very Busy Week


What a week it has been for Radio Jarocho. On Monday, we went to Lincoln Center to witness one of the best collaborations we’ve ever seen. Our friends from Tambembe Ensamble Continuo accompanied “baroque music superstar” Jordi Savall and his ensembles La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI in his tour “Folías Criollas: Musical Dialogue from Old Spain, the Mexican Baroque, and the Living Huasteca and Jarocho Traditions." Savall's ensembles were fantastic, but it is undeniable that Tambembe stole the night. Particularly dazzling were the performances of Patricio Hidalgo and Donají Esparza. Once more, Patricio showed us how son jarocho is made: effortlessly. Always calmed, his thundering voice filled the hall with ease. One could say that Patricio doesn't play the jarana, but that he caresses it, as if petting a small creature. He not only sang his verses of Los Chiles Verdes, El Fandanguito and María Chuchena with poise and elegance, but he also improvised for El Pajarillo, a traditional son llanero, showing the audience the creativity, wittiness and sharp-mindedness that son jarocho requires.


Donají, on her part, demonstrated once more why she’s considered one of the best son jarocho bailadoras in the country. She began by dancing basic jarocho zapateado for Los Negritos, to later show complex step combinations emanating from the jarocho, flamenco and gypsy traditions. Her style shows that the zapateado can be as unique and sophisticated in son jarocho, as the versada and music composition have become. Indeed, Donají’s rebozo wrapped her in a loving embrace with every turn, while her feet made step patterns that went from the basic café con pan to complex syncopated rhythms. All members of Tambembe offered inspiring performances. Enrique Barona played the leona and sang masterfully; he also danced La Iguana, making the audience roar. Leopoldo Novoa handled the marimbol in a way that shows that you don't need to have been born in Mexico to become one of the best son jarocho performers. Ada Coronel sang beautifully, proving why another one of her projects, Yolotecuani, has acquired considerable fame among folk-music connoisseurs in Mexico and abroad. Eloy Cruz played the vihuela and leona, providing us with living proof that European baroque music and traditional son from Mexico are intimately connected. It was truly a fantastic show that was also reviewed by The New York Times. Way to go Tambembe Ensamble Continuo!


Monday night didn’t end with our friends’ performance. We stayed at Alice Tully Hall for the post-show cocktail party, where we had a chance to chat with many members of the different ensambles and with Jordi Savall himself. Check out the photos!



After that, we took Patricio out to dinner around the neighborhood and we had the opportunity to spend time with him and chat about Radio Jarocho’s projects and Patricio’s new sones. He also gave us some tips for writing our own verses. For example, we talked about the composition and performance of décimas and he passed on advice that he received from a Cuban decimero:


Son los versos al momento,

Consonantes o totales

Si tienen desde el acento

Todas las letras iguales.


Son los versos al momento,

Asonantes o parciales,

Cuando a partir del acento

Sólo riman las vocales.


So now you know, décima-writers, how to make a good one. Once more, Patricio’s humbleness, modesty and talent awed the members of Radio Jarocho. We felt ever more proud to be his friends, his son jarocho “godchildren” and his colleagues.


Something else we discussed with Patricio was our desire to make “Bemba y Tablao” the first single of our new album. As you all now, “Bemba” was composed by Patricio and arranged by Radio Jarocho and has become one of our staple songs onstage. People really enjoy it, so it only seems natural that we choose it as our single. Patricio’s blessing on this matter made us more eager to begin recording in the summer. There’s also the possibility of doing one more of his songs, so stay tuned for news on that! Check our video of Bemba y Tablao performed at Jalopy Theater last Friday! Also check out Café Café and Malhaya el Sueño...


But there's more! On Tuesday, Julia traveled to Austin, TX to perform at SXSW with our friends David Wax Museum. For that purpose, Julia built a small tarima that she took with her on the plane and which sounds incredibly, regardless of its size. DWM’s shows were fantastic. Dave, Suz, Greg and Ben gave wonderful performances, making the crowd roar. The first show, at The Stage on Sixth, was Paste Magazine’s event and was very well attended. Julia danced to The Persimmon Tree, Colás and Yes, María, Yes. The second performance was at famous Momo’s as part of “All Music is World Music,” organized by PRI's "The World" Marco Werman. DWM jumped offstage and Julia followed for Colás, Carpenter Bird and Yes, María, Yes, which the audience enjoyed enormously. Watch a video of us in the middle of the crowd doing Carpenter Bird. She also danced to Unfruitful, one of DWM's songs that is inspired more on American folk than on son jarocho; although it was the first time she joined them for that particular tune, she showed that it is certainly possible for a son jarocho bailadora to participate in most folk-music genres. Congrats to David Wax Museum for all their successes and good luck in all that’s coming next!


Friday evening, Radio Jarocho performed at Jalopy Theater & School of Music. Following a wonderful show by Beatbox Guitar, with dancer Marisol Cabrera, we played our new material, plus one new song written by Gabriel and Julia called “La tristeza.” The crowd enjoyed the performance and the fandango that followed.


As you see, we are keeping ourselves busy these days. Stay tuned for more Radio Jarocho news and projects. Undoubtedly, 2011 will be the year of the urban soneros. Join us in the adventure.


This blog post can’t be dedicated to anyone else but to Tambembe Ensamble Continuo. We appreciate their friendship, their mentorship and their support. We are proud fans of their work and hope they come back to New York in the near future. Check out their video of La Petenera here.


Come see us at Zebulon Café Concert next Thursday or to Terraza Café on Saturday, March 26. You’ll have a wonderful time… Guaranteed.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Urban Soneros


It’s time for a new edition of Radio Jarocho’s blog! We’ve had a couple of very busy weeks; going to the radio show Tómala Barbón, putting together new material, planning our gigs at Jalopy, Zebulon and Terraza, and getting ready to start recording in a couple of months.


The show with the guys of Tómala Barbón was absolutely fantastic. cHompis and Abe were wonderful hosts, making us feel right at home from the start. As they said, we met only a few weeks ago, but it feels like we’ve known each other for years. We talked about bands that we like, and played some popular tunes by Los Pájaros del Alba, Los Parientes de Playa Vicente, Zacamandú, Los Utrera and Son Candela. We talked about what it means to be an urban sonero and we all agreed that Radio Jarocho has its own particular rhythm and style that originates from the environment in which we live. We would all love to open our windows in the morning and see a water stream, grassland, birds or cattle, like many son jarocho musicians do in Veracruz. However, our reality is very different, since we live among skyscrapers, industries and asphalt roads. It makes us proud to be producing material that responds to a unique reality and not to an imitation of a world to which we no longer belong. At Tómala Barbón we also discussed the affection and respect we have for older soneros, and how much we’ve appreciated their help and support. People like Patricio Hidalgo, for example, have been a true inspiration for all of us. This is very clearly reflected in our style and compositions. We play “Bemba y tablao,” written by Patricio, with all the passion and intensity that such song demands.


Being an urban sonero has its advantages, but can also be a handicap. On the one hand, living in New York and having all the communication advances that easy access to the internet provides, we can gather a bigger following, make our material known to wider audiences and obtain better remuneration for our efforts than many of our colleagues in Mexico. We can also obtain inspiration from the variety of cultures, rhtythms and customs that a cosmopolitan city like New York can offer. However, being almost the sole group that plays this kind of music in the East Coast, our dialogue with the jarocho community of Veracruz is more limited than it would be if we were in Mexico. We have gotten very good at staying updated with the latest son jarocho news and recordings, though we don’t get to experience the tradition first hand. Radio Jarocho, however, is proudly helping to create a sonero tradition in New York. Always based on what we have learned from our Veracruzan fellow jaraneros, requinteros, leoneros and bailadoras, and with all the respect the son jarocho community and the fandango deserve.


Indeed, playing son jarocho in New York can be challenging, but can also be incredibly rewarding. Our friends at Tómala Barbón made us feel that our task is well justified and gave us further reasons to keep playing, writing our material and making efforts to offer the best fandango experience we can provide. Thank you, chavos!


So, we are now getting ready for a series of gigs that promise to be absolutely fantastic. Expect to hear two more new sones written by Gabriel and arranged by all of Radio Jarocho. Come to Jalopy, Zebulon or Terraza in March!

Radio Jarocho at Jalopy Theater & School of Music, March 18. The fabulous Beatbox Guitar will be playing too!

Radio Jarocho at Zebulon Cafe Concert, together with Tik Tok and Feral Foster on March 24.

Radio Jarocho at Terraza. Come to the monthly fandango on March 26!

All shows start promptly at 10:30.


This time, we'd like to dedicate this blog post to our wonderful friend and performance artist Marisol Cabrera. Marisol has been joining us every Friday at our son jarocho workshops in Brooklyn, bringing her beauty, positive attitude and grace to the class. She's a talented dancer and gifted student. She's also a regular at Radio Jarocho's fandangos. Rock on, Marisol!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

What's next for Radio Jarocho


After a very successful and well-attended fandango last Saturday, Radio Jarocho is heating up the engines for a new set of performances and a radio appearance. This Wednesday, March 9, the members of Radio Jarocho will be guests at Tómala Barbón, a radio show that's part of Radio Global, a station that's based in Tijuana, Mexico. Tómala Barbón and Radio Global are part of a cultural movement, born in the late 1990s, that strives for the opening up of new ways of communicating by transmitting through the internet, for example. The show is heard in the US, Mexico and Europe. We will be talking, sharing music and playing with our friend cHompis (Armando Croda), who's been a very active promoter of son jarocho in Veracruz and other parts of Mexico. Tune in to www.radioglobal.org on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. and listen to RJ's new material!

On March 18 at 10:30 p.m. we will be playing at one of our favorite spots, Jalopy Theater. We consider ourselves part of the Jalopy family and are extremely happy to go back. Before we play, the guys of Beatbox Guitar will show their flamenco/hip-hop/psychedelic rock magic. Cover is $10, beer is good, there will be t-shirts for sale and free CD's. You shouldn't miss it.

We have now decided that each blog entry will be dedicated to different bands that have influenced us over the years, both in Mexico and in New York. This time, check out what our dear friend Rana Santacruz is doing. Rene is a Mexican musician residing in Brooklyn. He writes and performs only original material and plays a jaw-dropping number of instruments. People in the subway think he's a punk rocker because he wears mariachi pants with t-shirts. We just think the dude has style! Check him out at Barbes on March 17.

Keep tuning in for more Radio Jarocho. We promise to keep writing, keep playing and keep the fandango going!