LOS CENZONTLES WITH JULIAN GONZALEZ: Plan De La Villa, Traditional Mariachi, Volume 1

Los Cenzontles with Julian Gonzalez

Plan De La Villa, Traditional Mariachi, Volume 1

© 2002 Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center (656613750223)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

SPECIAL: 20% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

5{

tracks

1 Introduction
2 Amapolita Morada
3 La Banda
4 Plan de la Villa
5 El Guaco
6 Los Arroyitos
7 El Indio
8 Introduction
9 Asi es Tecolotlan
10 Los Arrieros
11 El Pitayero
12 Introduction
13 El Tesmo
14 El Becerrero
15 Introduction
16 El Perro

notes

Plan de la Villa
Traditional Mariachi Volume 1
Los Cenzontles with Julian Gonzalez


Unique in its unvarnished folk style, Los Cenzontles with Julian González should satisfy the most demanding of purists, offering the listener a taste of the mariachi as it sounded in the era before commercialization. In all of these sones, a fresh, zestful and "down-home" enthusiasm prevails, one that we seldom hear in garden-variety commercial mariachis. Cultural purists, rejoice. Review by Dr. Manuel Peña, Fresno State University

PLAN DE LA VILLA is both a significant document of rarely heard sones abajeños of the traditional mariachi as well as an energetic and attractive recording for all audiences. Los Cenzontles, under the tutelage of Julian Gonzalez, have applied their artistry and scholarship to the relatively unknown roots of mariachi music. Distinct from the orchestral nature of the contemporary mariachi, PLAN DE LA VILLA resurrects the improvisatory spirit of the traditional rural mariachi. Its instrumentation is simple: 2 violins, vihuela, guitarron and vocal duet. Some cuts include zapateado the traditional percussive dancing upon a tarima, or wooden platform.

Julian Gonzalez is one of very few remaining practioners of the traditional mariachi. Julian Gonzalez was raised on a rural hacienda in Camichines, Municipality of Juchitlan, Jalisco. There, he learned to sing, dance, and play violin from his father and the other elders of the ranch during the parties that followed long harvests in the sugar cane fields. In 1997, he, along with other rural musicians, formed Mariachi Los Centenarios in order to compete in the fifth Encuentro Mundial de Mariachi in Guadalajara, Mexico. There they took second place in the category of traditional mariachi, which is performed without trumpets (a modern addition). In 2000, he began working with Los Cenzontles funding by the California Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, a project administered by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA). In 2001 Don Julian was one of four elder master artists featured in the touring festival Cuatro Maestros. Their creative collaboration results in this unique compact disc.

LosCenzontles.com

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • author: CD Baby

    Break out the tequila and lime for this spirited and notable album of traditional Mariachi will satisfy the most demanding of purists. Offering the light and agile spirit of mariachi as it sounded in the era before commercialization, using strings where one would anticipate brass, this significant document of rarely heard sones abajeños of the traditional mariachi is absolutely overflowing with zest. Under the tutelage of Julian Gonzalez,they have applied their artistry and scholarship to the relatively unknown roots of mariachi music- an accomplishment to celebrate in itself.

  • In sum, what we get in "Plan de la Villa" is a genuine old-style mariachi...
    author: Dr. Manuel Pena

    Unique in its unvarnished folk style, Los Cenzontles with Julian González should satisfy the most demanding of purists, offering the listener a taste of the mariachi as it sounded in the era before commercialization. In all of these sones, a fresh, zestful and "down-home" enthusiasm prevails, one that we seldom hear in garden-variety commercial mariachis. In a world marked by increasing standardization, Los Cenzontles "urform" sounds represent a unique musical experience. And, while their excursion into the mariachi world of yesterday may seem quixotic, it is refreshing to hear, at least once more, mariachi music as it once flourished. Cultural purists, rejoice!

  • If you even remotely like mariachi, don't miss it!
    author: Tamara Turner, CD Baby.com Music Reviewer/Editor

    Break out the tequila and lime for this spirited and notable album of traditional Mariachi will satisfy the most demanding of purists. Offering the light and agile spirit of mariachi as it sounded in the era before commercialization, using strings where one would anticipate brass, this significant document of rarely heard sones abajeños of the traditional mariachi is absolutely overflowing with zest. Under the tutelage of Julian Gonzalez,they have applied their artistry and scholarship to the relatively unknown roots of mariachi music- an accomplishment to celebrate in itself.

email

Please log in to email this artist.