When Natividad “Nati” Cano says “react to the breeze, to the wind; if the wind hits you, open your arms so that wind blankets your whole body,” he is offering the most telling description of çViva el Mariachi! , his sixth album, which has just been released on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Most people will be familiar with the music of the mariachi; but be warned: this is not the bare-bones, synthesized, white noise heard on dollar-and-a-quarter margarita night. The seventeen songs on çViva el Mariachi! are dense, textured, and, most importantly, enjoyable. Nati Cano’s Mariachi Los Camperos skillfully demonstrates a mastery of the ever-changing influences incorporated by the mariachi.
The album mixes sones jalisciences, canciones rancheras, boleros, and huapangos, demonstrating what has caused Cano, who has been playing mariachi for over sixty years, to be called a “traditionalist and a missionary.” The sones, like Los Arrieros, the casual listener will find, create the most easily recognizable style. The syncopated guitar work, pulsing rhythms, and vibrant Ayyyy’s are done to perfection. It is a sound which many imitate, but few master.
The waltz-like canciones racheras often deal with the themes of love, abandonment, and remembrance. For instance, the words to Paloma Negra go, “I’m tired of crying, and the dawn still doesn’t come. I don’t know whether to curse you or to pray for you . . .You decided for yourself to go on a drunken spree.” The singer’s plaintive vibrato wrings out every last drop of emotion. And the one-two-three pulse lulls the listener into a soft place -where love and anger, passion and joy are all understood to be one and the same thing.
The boleros, a style imported from Cuba, are driven by harmony and melancholy. The two huapangos, El Gustito and La Malagueí±a, which are perhaps the most beautiful songs on the album, integrate the versatile vocals and guitar work of the sones and canciones rancheras with atmospheric string arrangements.
çViva el Mariachi! is admirable for more than its musical offerings. The informative liner notes give the listener the background necessary to enjoy and to appreciate the development of Nati Cano’s particular mariachi flair. They are great for anyone who hears this album and wants to learn more about Cano or traditional Mexican music.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings want to educate listeners as well as entertain them. This album would be an admirable addition to any collection.
In the liner section “Mariachi Origins,” it says “Cosme Santa Anna, a priest in the Rosamorada parish of the west Mexican community of Santiago Ixcuintla, wrote to the archbishop in Guadalajara to complain of ‘mariachis’-entertainment with music, drinking, gambling, and loud talk.”
Once you’ve purchased çViva el Mariachi! , you shouldn’t heed that warning. Make sure that you’ve got enough Cuervo, check to see that the cards aren’t marked, and have your roommate hide your bullets, because it’s going to be a wild night.