LOS CENZONTLES WITH JULIAN GONZALEZ: El Pasajero, traditional mariachi, Volume 2

Los Cenzontles with Julian Gonzalez

El Pasajero, traditional mariachi, Volume 2

© 2003 Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center (659057783727)

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)

Traditional Mexican Mariachi; the second volume of rarely heard sones abajeños and canciones rancheras of the traditional mariachi.

tracks

1 El Armadillo
2 El Pasajero
3 El Solito
4 La Mariquita
5 Llano Grande
6 Engañosa y Cobarde
7 Los Saucitos
8 El Corrido de Juan Guerrero
9 La Manzanita Tierna
10 Lo Mejor De Mi Vida
11 El Pedregal
12 Rifare Mi Suerte
13 El Torero

notes

El Pasajero
Traditional Mariachi Volume 2
Los Cenzontles with Julian Gonzalez


"In all of these sones, a fresh, zestful and "down-home" enthusiasm prevails, one that we seldom hear in garden-variety commercial mariachis. In sum, what we get in "Plan de la Villa" is a genuine old-style mariachi..."
-Review of Volume 1 by Dr. Manuel Pen~a, Fresno State University, for ACTA

EL PASAJERO is the second volume of rarely heard sones abajen~os and canciones rancheras of the traditional mariachi. Los Cenzontles, under the tutelage of Julian Gonzalez, have applied their artistry and scholarship to the little known roots of the mariachi. Distinct from the orchestral nature of the contemporary mariachi, EL PASAJERO brings to life the improvisatory spirit of the rural tradition. Its instrumentation is simple: 2 violins, vihuela, guitarron and vocal duet, male and female, and zapateado, percussive dancing.

Julian Gonzalez is one of very few remaining practitioners of the traditional mariachi. He 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. 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). Their creative collaboration has resulted in three unique compact discs to date.

loscenzontles.com
(510) 233-8015
Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center 13108 San Pablo Ave San Pablo, CA 94805

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • beauty from the land of sun
    author: dave mihaly

    Joyful. Full of the polyrhythmic drive of Mexico. Cook to it, drive to it, love to it, dream to it, work to it, dance to it: pasajero- cuando yo mas te recuerdo en tu alegre carnaval.

  • author: CD Baby

    Ahhh, yes. Perfect music for summer- it will have you reaching for the Jose Quervo and searching out a sunny siesta spot to bake in the sunshine. What better addition to your summer preparations than a fruity, well-seasoned album of traditional Mexican Mariachi? In this, their second volume of rarely heard sones abajeños and canciones rancheras of the traditional mariachi, pure sunshine overflows with joyous vocals- the perfect inspiration for dancing and kicking back.

  • author: Michael Stone, Roots World

    El Pasajero (the passenger) takes on the traditional (pre-brass, string band) mariachi repertoire, with an upbeat mix of canción ranchera, corrido and son abajeño. Dispensing with the dramatic flourishes of the large brass mariachi ensembles that today dominate the genre, by uniting two generations of artists and revisiting the form's essential folk roots, El Pasajero holds out the promise of a revitalized form of cultural expression attuned to the trans-frontier social realities of Mexican-descent peoples in the contemporary United States.

  • El Pasajero keeps the rootsy spirit of the rural mariachi alive, played with pas
    author: Sing Out Magazine

    Unlike the modern orchestra form of mariachi music, the traditional form features smaller groups, greater rhythmic drive, and more improvisation. El Pasajero keeps the rootsy spirit of the rural mariachi alive, played with passion and artistry. Los Cenzontles’s CD is beautifully recorded, putting us in the center of the music. Recommended. Sing Out Magazine

  • Perfect music for summer
    author: Tamara Turner, CD Baby

    Ahhh, yes. Perfect music for summer- it will have you reaching for the Jose Quervo and searching out a sunny siesta spot to bake in the sunshine. What better addition to your summer preparations than a fruity, well-seasoned album of traditional Mexican Mariachi? In this, their second volume of rarely heard sones abajeños and canciones rancheras of the traditional mariachi, pure sunshine overflows with joyous vocals- the perfect inspiration for dancing and kicking back.

email

Please log in to email this artist.