OCGente’s New Music Month

Sones de Mexico Ensemble are bringing their Grammy wining talents to a new generation of kids that are growing up in a globalized world.

Three years ago Sones de Mexico Ensemble ventured with Mexican folk retoolings of Led Zeppelin’s “Four Sticks” and J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg 3-2” for their Grammy™ and Latin Grammy™ nominated album Esta Tierra Es Tuya (This Land Is Your Land) and now they are bringing Mexican folklore music close to home.

What do a crawfish, a cowboy mouse, and a 100-year-old woman have in common? They are all characters in the latest release Fiesta Mexicana: Mexican Songs & Stories for Niños & Niñas and their Papás & Mamás. The group formed by Victor Pichardo (music director), Juan Díes (producer), Lorena Iñiguez, Juan Rivera, Zacbé Pichardo, and Javier Saume invite anyone interested in good, fun music and stories for any age to join this musical adventure.

As a showcase of traditional and classic Mexican folk tunes, it can also work as a celebration of identity and pride. Dancer and percussionist Lorena Iñiguez recalls that during a workshop, when she was asked how she got started, she replied that she began dancing with Grupo Netzahualcóyotl (named after the pre-Columbian poet-king), and a child jumped up and said, “Hey, that’s my name!” “Apparently,” she remarks, “the boy had always suffered with this Aztec name because it was different and hard for others to pronounce, and kids made fun of him. At that moment though the boy could feel proud of his name and heritage.”

The recording captures the excitement of Sones de Mexico Ensemble’s live performances and draws listeners in as it educates them about Mexican folklore, music, and cosmology through stories and songs. Fiesta Mexicana is a bilingual, double album for the 21st Century with 44 tracks that include songs over 300-years-old, fantastic characters, and children’s entertainers Dan Zanes and Ella Jenkins as special guests singing in Spanish.

But Fiesta Mexicana has a world scope “It’s for everyone who lives in this bilingual and bicultural environment.” says Juan Díes. The lessons are universal, not just about Mexican culture; he adds, “kids learn about tempo in music, about loving animals, and about the importance of balance in the world and in one’s self.” “We are educators at heart,” says music director Víctor Pichardo, who was brought to Chicago 17 years ago by an arts education organization and conceived Fiesta Mexicana to teach children about Mexican heritage through story and song.

Para más información

http://www.sonesdemexico.com/

Photo by Todd Winters