Sones de Mexico specializes in variety

MUSIC

Juan Díes knows what people see and hear when they think about Mexican music. Most likely, the image that comes to mind will be a mariachi band. In other instances, the music and images often associated with Mexican music is not Mexican at all, Díes, a member of the band Sones de Mexico, says.

“They portray Mexican musicians playing castanets, which are from Spain, or women dancing with fruit on their heads, which is Brazilian,” Díes says.

Mexico is a large country that has many regional differences, Díes says, and that diversity can be heard in the music.

“I felt there was a very large gap in people’s knowledge of the Mexican music,” he says.

The group Sones de Mexico, which performs Saturday at Chris Wilson Pavilion in South Bend’s Potawatomi Park, promotes one of the oldest and most diverse musical forms.

The earliest known Mexican sones appeared in the 17th century. The son is a fusion of Spanish, African and indigenous music, which makes this musical style similar to the Cuban son.

The major difference is that regional variation is a distinguishing characteristic of the Mexican son.

“There are about 30 different styles of sones, and they feature different instruments that are used in different regions,” Díes says.

The band Sones de Mexico has worked to spread awareness and appreciation of this traditional form of Mexican music since the ensemble was founded in 1994.

In addition to holding concerts, Sones de Mexico also has released several CDs, including “Esta Tierra Es Tuya” (“This Land Is Your Land”) and the children’s album “Fiesta Mexicana.” “Fiesta Mexicana” includes English and Spanish versions of the songs.

Sones de Mexico makes a point of displaying that musical diversity onstage, Díes says.

All of the instruments used during a Sones de Mexico concert are onstage, Díes says. Band members switch instruments when playing a son from a different region.

People attending the concert might not know why the musicians change instruments, but educating the public about Mexican music has been a goal since Sones de Mexico’s founding.

That’s why the band offers a pre-concert lecture and a demonstration called “Beyond the Music,” Díes says.

The “Beyond the Music” lecture and demonstration takes place at 6 p.m.

“We want to teach people about the culture of Mexico, but we don’t feel that we have a chance to talk about that during the concert,” Díes says. “We don’t want the concert to become a lecture.”

One thing that people will learn during the lecture and the concert is that they have had some exposure to the son.

“One of the most famous sones is ‘La Bamba,’ ” Díes says. “That song is from Veracruz, and it is a traditional song that is more than 300 years old.”

Ritchie Valens had a hit with his rock version of “La Bamba” in 1958.

Díes says “LaBamba” is an Afro-Mexican call and response song, but the band often uses the rock version to display the diversity of the son.

“On ‘Fiesta Mexicana,’ we play the rock version,” he says, “and then we stop and go into the folk version.”