Music of the Heart of Mexico

"mariachis?"

The excited whisper rises from a group of people who have gathered for a backyard graduation party in Tucson. Heads turn to watch as the man in the short black jacket and the tight pants festooned with rows of silver buttons sets up speakers and microphones. Heads nod. Yes, mariachis.

The others move into the yard in a single file, men and women wearing the historic costume of the charro, the master equestrians of Mexico. Similar parades are taking place across the city, in other back yards, restaurants and hired halls. In minutes, the strings will begin, the trumpets will call and, undoubtedly, from one of the crowd a resounding "Ai ... yi ... yi ..." will ring out.

"It makes me feel good that I am a mariachi," says Tucsonan Frank Valencia, who has been playing mariachi music for more than 50 years. "It makes me feel good inside." Many who listen to mariachi music feel the same way.

"It's voluptuous. It's exciting. It reaches theheart immediately," says Daniel Buckley, music critic for the Tucson Citizen newspaper. He takes his mariachi seriously. "It's every bit as complex as the orchestral form."

Mariachi started in the state of Jalisco in central Mexico. Theories abound as to the origin of the name. A long-held belief ties it to the French word for marriage and the Mexican musicians who played at the wedding celebrations of French invaders in 1860s Mexico.

However, evidence indicates the word mariachi existed before the French arrived in Mexico. It may have been derived from the ancient Nahuatl language, possibly referring to the type of wood used to make a stage on which musicians performed, the stage itself or the Nahuatl word for joy or song.

For many today, the word means Mexico and its music of passion and pride. Anyone on this side of the border who loves, likes or just wants to know more about mariachi should consider taking a trip to Tucson.

The city has become a kind of mariachi mecca. There are times, especially during April and May, when you can barely round a corner in town without bumping into some kind of mariachi celebration.

Held in April, the International Mariachi Conference, with concerts, seminars and workshops, attracts the best practicing the art, and thousands who want to listen. May is the month of Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican national holiday honoring a battle won against the French on May 5, 1862. Victory still blows her horn.

The great events of individual lives are also celebrated with mariachi music - the christenings, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and, yes, funerals.

"I want mariachi," Rufugio "Cuco" del Cid's mother told him of her own funeral wishes. "Ah no, Mama," he says, shaking his head with a smile in an echo of his reaction. Del Cid is a mariachi. He plays one sweet trumpet.

You can hear him on some Sunday mornings at the mariachi mass at St. Augustine Cathedral in central Tucson. He opens the service with a trumpet call designed to bypass the head and go directly to the soul.

"You have to feel what you play, what you sing," says del Cid. The first mariachis had todo that without the support of the trumpets. European music and stringed instruments arrived on this continent with the Spanish conquest of the early 1500s. Native musicians incorporated them into their music. Early mariachis used strings guitars, violins and harps. Two "uniquely mariachi" instruments were developed and added. The guitarrón, with the appearance of a heavybellied guitar, held face up and plucked two strings at a time, provided the bass. The sixstring vihuela, smaller than a guitar, offered a higher voice. This string grouping would have formed the mariachi band of the late 19th century. The trumpets joined in the 1930s. They offered a clear-as-crystal power, perfect for radio, the medium making mariachi popular throughout Mexico.

Mariachis also sing. A good mariachi can hit a note in a way that replicates the sound of pure happiness or that of a human sob. And the words certainly fit the emotions.

Mariachis sing of amor and corazon, "love and heart," of the ojos bonitos, the "beautiful eyes" of their beloved. In sones, the traditional music of the mariachi, they sing of the country life. In corridos, they tell the stories of heroes and heroic events.

In their music and voices, they honor the mariachi homeland. "Guadalajara," a mariachi standard, is an ode to the capital city of Jalisco.

Whether an audience knows of Jalisco, Guadalahara, corazon or anything at all about ojos, the demand for mariachi music has Tucson groups booked solid.

"It's ear candy," says critic Buckley of mariachi's cross-cultural appeal.

Some of those listening have more on their minds than music-filled nights over salsa and chips. They have come in search of new talent.

"The L.A. groups come to Tucson to recruit," states Richard Carranza, who has played mariachi music for 27 years. "They ask, 'What is it about Tucson?'"

Carranza theorizes that Tucson's level of mariachi excellence may be due to the city's proximity to Mexico. Tucson lies close enough to know and love the music, but far enough away from the mariachi-rich interior of Mexico to feel free to create its own sounds.

The public education system of the city also has played its role. Administrators of the Tucson Unified School District believe their district to be the only one in the United States that includes mariachi in its curriculum. This comes in a period when many school systems have eliminated music from the classroom.

Mariachi del Cid not only feels his music, he also teaches it at Sunnyside High School.

The resident angels can be found at Davis Bilingual Magnet School. These elementary schoolchildren have a love for the music and for the teacher they call "Mr. V."

Alfredo Valenzuela heads Davis' mariachi classes and performing group. You can't talk to him without being happily interrupted by children wandering in and out of his classroom strumming guitars. Trumpet players entertain outside. Violinists fill the stage over in the cafeteria.

Because they are children, it would be natural to steel yourself for one of their concerts. You anticipate a screech of misplayed bow on the strings or the off-note blare of a trumpet.

"With all our love, we offer you this program," Mr. V. says as the Mother's Day mariachi concert begins.

Guadalahara, Guadalahara, chime the voices, strings and trumpets. The air fills with the music of pride, the voices of joy.

Hey, they sound good, these mini-mariachis tear-producing, hair-on-the-arm raising, hand-clapping, foot-tapping, smileevoking good. Just like the music they play. AH AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tucson restaurants with live mariachi music include El Mariachi Restaurant, 106 W. Drachman St., (520) 7917799; El Meson del Cobre, 2960 N. First Ave., (520) 791-0977; and La Fuente, 1749 Ν. Oracle Road, (520) 623-8669 Mariachi Carranza holds the positions of vice principal of Tucson's Pueblo High School and founder of the school's performing group, Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo. Javier Trujillo directs the group.

"They are expected to maintain a level of musicianship," he says of the students who have daily classes, weekly rehearsals and hours of practice at home. The dedication of this and other school groups results in full performance schedules. And, these aren't just farm teams playing for the locals. Young mariachi groups from Tucson travel to New York, Spain and, yes, Mexico to perform.

If Tucson is indeed heaven for mariachi,