Bio
Son Jarocho, originated in Veracruz, Mexico, is a blend of Indigenous Mexican, African, Arabic sounds. I have been playing Son Jarocho for over 15 years now. I began studying in Veracruz, Mexico with renowned harpist, Andres Alfonso through a music program my then middle school offered. When the program culminated, I kept studying with him because I loved the music, the instruments and the celebration of the Son Jarocho music ( the fandango). It was then, that I met different members of already formed Son Jarocho groups, like Gilberto Gutierrez of Mono Blanco. I continued my studies with Gilberto Gutierrez, Ramon Gutierrez, Andres Vega and others who were and still are deeply committed to passing on this tradition of music, song, dance, poetry and culture. While the tradition of becoming a good musician in the Son Jarocho genre requires one to learn not only to play one instrument, but to play almost all of them, to play jarana and learn zapateado (dance) , I focused on specializing on the Singing and playing all the traditional guitars, and have taught classes in all of these instruments including harp and percussion.
It is a vital part of the Son Jarocho tradition to teach, to share, to pass on to future generations of “jaraneros” and to other musicians, the music, the dance, the verses and the culture of Son Jarocho, and the Fandango. This is how this music has been kept alive for so many generations. The fandango is an integral part of many communities in Veracruz. A fandango is a community gathering around a tarima, a wooden box that is danced on, where musicians, dancers, children, adults, elders participate in sharing, in expressing themselves, in showing off what they’ve learned, or just listening and watching. It is a celebration of who we are, where we came from and of what we are holding onto. Just as the fandango, its sounds, and smells and layers of beauty became a part of me, so did playing and singing. In 1993, I became a member of the group Mono Blanco and played Leona (traditional acoustic bass) for the group for 11 years. With the group, I traveled throughout Europe, Canada and the US performing this music, giving all of my heart and soul to the tradition that gave me so much. I began teaching at this time as well and have been an active member of the Son Jarocho community of musicians, teachers and lauderos (instrument makers) since.
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CURRICULUM VITAE
• 2011 Produces “Radio Jarochelo” a podcast dedicated to Son Jarocho and Fandango in www.jarochelo.com
• 2011 Starts the Son Jarocho Ensemble at Occidental College as part of the Music Department
• 2011 Continuous teaching on the saturday program MIGRANT EDUCATION, verses: coplas and décimas as spanish language reinforcement.
• 2010 Starts teaching a jarana class at Nightingale Middle School.
• 2010 Starts teaching on the summer and saturday program MIGRANT EDUCATION, music appreciation, dance, sing and verses.
• 2010 Creates a new son jarocho group: Cambalache to promote the music in the LA area.
• 2009 Co-producing FANDANGO SIN FRONTERAS/ EXPO 09. OPENING ON SEPTEMBER 12th. at IMIX BOOKSTORE & GALLERY at Eagle Rock, CA.
• 2009 Concert with zocaloZüe at the John A. Ford Amphitheater, Hollywood.
• 2009 Perform “Mexico in East Los Angeles” a musical by “SummerSounds for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl” with “Fandango Sin Fronteras”.
• 2008-9 Recipient of the Durfee Foundation Master Musician Fellowship
• 2008 Director, songwriter and producer of a new fusion group: zocaloZüe and the recent album “MundoJarocho”
• 2007 Musical Director of stage production “Un Zapateado Chicano” at Luckman Performing Arts Center Cal State, Los Angeles.
• 2007 Toured with Quetzal, a chicano music band.
• 2005 RECORDED with Quetzal on the album “die cowboy die”.
• 2004 Gave project support and performed with fandango Without Borders, a collaborative project in Los Angeles, CA. The project initiated by Floricanto Dance and Quetzal, was an effort to pay respects to the Fandango and Son Jarocho as well as to blend the two as we have been working together for the past five years. The show traveled to Seattle WA as well in early 2005.
• 2004 RECORDED on Son de Madera’s album, “Las Orquestas del Dia.”
• 2003 RECORDED Leona and vocals on well known trovador, Armando Chacha’s CD.
• 2002 Directed a group of 25 children in a program that commenced with a presentation paying homage to Cri-Cri, composer of children’s songs who was also from Veracruz, Mexico.
• 1998-2003 traveled through Europe and the United States with Mono Blanco
• 1998 RECORDED on the next Mono Blanco CD, “El mundo se va a Acabar.”
• 1997 Began studying at Escuela Municipal de Bellas Artes to study cello and voice
• 1996 Began teaching twice weekly at la Escuela Veracruzana de Danza. I taught traditional dance of Veracruz to students and teachers as well.
• 1995 –1999 Was invited to teach son Jarocho to youth in the rural area of Veracruz. The program was called, “Campamento de Son Jarocho Infantil.”
• 1992-1998 Was responsible teacher for workshops in Son Jarocho at the Instituto de Cultura de Veracruz
• 1992 Began teaching Son Jarocho to students in Mexico City for the summer classes at the Centro Cultural CULHUACAN.