What was billed as Trama y Urdimbre (Warp and Weft), a fund-raising concert of traditional music turned into a joyful dance party with audience members joining the zapetado dancers on the platform while the band took us through a tour of Mexico’s traditional high energy music.
The evert was a fund raiser for the Patronato Día de Muertos, the local committee in charge of producing the Day of the Dead celebration in Ajijic. It was held outdoors under a starry sky at the La Cochera Cultural art and music center.
The band played songs from various regions of Mexico, using different instruments from several Mexican states. Band members explained the music they were playing and the instruments they used, both in the English and Spanish. As they moved through their set list they changed instruments bringing out the jarana (Mexican adaptation of the Spanish vihuela) the quijada or charrasca (donkey jawbone), the African finger harp, violin, guitars, cajon, the arpa jarocha, (large wooden framed harp) , a European cello, and the requinto (small, high-pitched four or five string guitar).
The rhythm was provide in many songs with the zapateado dancers on an amplified wooden platform . This was backed up, depending on the song, by a cajon, rhythm guitar, the quijada, and the jarana.
Vocals were a mix of traditional Huastec lyrics sung by the two women in the band in a high, steady pitch, and anguished flamenco-derived vocals by a male singer. For some songs, the audience were given parts to sing, which they did with gusto.
There were two high point of the evening. The first occurred when the dancers reached out to the first row and pulled a woman onto the dance platform who followed the dancers rather well. Later on in the performance, an number of women from the audience joined the dancers to much laughter and huffing and puffing.
The other highlight was the release of a globo – a paper hot -air balloon made by the local children. Shaped like a six-foot wide inverted pyramid, it was powered by candles on an internal wood frame carefully place to avoid setting the whole thing on fire. The globo carried a banner and a payload of sparklers which ignited in the air. Because it was a clear, cold night, the globo rose unobstructed and literally disappeared into the sky while the band played.
Los Tlacuaches was founded to blend f Mexican regional music with modern forms, while keeping the traditional sounds and themes – essentially, one foot in the past and one in the present and future. The three men and two women in the band use traditional instruments, and were joined last night by local guest musicians on the cajon, conga, and shaker and vocals.
All in all, Los Tlacuaches gave us a rousing concert with surprises, a little musical teaching, guest spots, and money for the Patronado to pay the bands at Dia de los Muertos. Definitely a magic night.
