MEXIQUE/L'ART DU VIOLON HUASTEQUE
MEXICO/THE ART OF THE HUASTEC VIOLIN
musique et documents
BAM, Edition AZ, 1976, LD 5 868
Mexico is well-known for the music played by the mariachis but this is a small part of the rich musical culture from the Tex-Mex like music in the North to the music of the Maya in the South.
One of the most living traditons in Mexico is located on the east coast where the Huastecs had their land before the Spanish conquest. There, the violin is everywhere associated to local types of guitars : the jarana and huapanguera guitars.
All the music of this album was recorded in the field by the Frenchman Serge Roterman on the 6th of March 1976. He was a musicologist and he lived in Mexico with his wife.
The traditional musicians here are Alfonso Amador (vocals and jarana, aged 70 at the time), Rolando Hernandez (violin) and Wilebaldo Amador, Alfonso's son (huapanguera, vocals). There are a lot of trios like this one, some of them achieved international fame thanks to a label like Arhoolie.
The repertoire is based on great songs and tunes of the tradition like la Petenera, el Gusto or el Toro Zacamandu played by three solid musicians.
The text in French gives some of the lyrics in Spanish with translation and explains the origins of this music.
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