Mexico
II: MUSIC
Part 1: Los Utrera, Son Jarocho, Fandango, & Versada
 Los Utrera
Los Utrera, from the Hato community, near Santiago Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico, interprets and recreates music in verse and dance from the son jarocho tradition, a multicultural mix of Spanish, African, and indigenous influences. Since its inception, Los Utrera has established a reputation for exploring the traditional roots of son jarocho, as well as showing relationships between diverse cultures and contemporary world music genres. The group is dedicated to the diffusion of the son jarocho and fandango through performances and workshops at the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares in Mexico City that teach traditional music, "zapateado" (percussive dancing on a wooden platform or tarima), writing of verses, and construction of musical instruments. Los Utrera has participated in the principal son jarocho festivals throughout Veracruz and has performed throughout the world. Highlight performances have included the annual International Festival Afrocaribeño held in Veracruz; Carnaval de La Viga in Mexico City; the Independence Festivities in Coyoacan, and also in Festivals at the Community Center in Culhuacan and at the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares in Mexico City. In 1994, they received support from the National Endowment for Culture and Arts to record peasant soneros from the Los Tuxtlas region and the low Papaloapan. The members of Los Utrera received government support for the creation of two luthier and traditional carpentry workshops in El Hato community in Veracruz and in Mexico City.
The members of Los Utrera (in alphabetical order) are:
Esteban Utrera Lucho, Camerino Utrera Luna, Anastasio Utrera Luna, Claudia Cao Romero, José Farías Luna, Diego Corvalán Vuskovic, Violeta Romero Granados
Music from Los Utrera:
Each excerpt below is approximately two minutes long. These sound files are quite large, and may take longer to download on slower connections.
El Coco [mp3 excerpt]
Siquisirí [mp3 excerpt]
El Fandango
The Fandango is an open ritual celebration where the Castilian-Spanish, Bantu-African,
Arabian-Andalusian and Indo-American cultures come together. This amazing
cultural encounter replaced deadly fighting with a battle based on verse compositions,
and a struggle through zapateado (percussive dancing). It also includes the
confrontation of the rhythms, and the string battle of the jaranas (small
guitars), in order to find out who can more deeply describe the beauty a flower,
a woman or a child's smile, or who can best describe a loyal friendship, a
beautiful dawn, the pain of betrayal, the colors of a parrot, the taste of
sugar cane, or what a morena (mulatto woman) said one afternoon in the port
of Veracruz.
Fandango took its rhythm from the African Bantu, which can be seen in the
dancing platforms and in the pandero (hand drummer). The sensuality of African
percussive dancing met the charm and garbo (elegance) of the Arab Andalusian
taconeo (tap dancing from the south of Spain). The Nahua Popoluca people contributed
their dancing and playing as well. The Pandero came from Muslim Africa, the
Marimbol from sub-Saharan Africa, and the jarana from Arabic Spain, as did
the Baroque guitar. In addition, the "son" guitar is a grandchild
of the Arabic oud, and the leona (a type of guitar), is the result of all
of those cultural influences. The lyrics come from all of them as well. Different
types of rhyme patterns sing the pleasure of life, the unhappiness that comes
with injustice, and the joy of all that is beautiful.
Over the years more influences came either from overseas, or from the central
regions of Mexico by horse. All of them are as much the origin of the Fandango
as the previous ones were. Fandango is a celebration in which those who already
knew each other will meet again, but it is also a meeting point for those
who are just meeting, as well as for those who have not met yet. Fandango
includes everyone, even those who are absent.
Fandango is a ritual celebration where communities get together around a dancing
platform to play jaranas and "son" guitars, and to sing verses,
and where women dance with other women or with men, depending on the type
of song. They celebrate events such as the birth of a child, a girl's passage
to adulthood, and later on, her marriage. Fandango also accompanies burials,
worshipping rituals for saints, or the birthday of Virgin Mary. In short,
every occasion involves the dancing platform. Everything happens through the
jarana, the leona, and the fandango.
Versada
Singing verses (versada) is the most direct way to express oneself in the
fandago style and genre. La versada (verse competition) takes place in order
to celebrate the charm or appeal of a woman and to captivate her attention,
or to express personal, social or political differences. It also takes the
form of confrontation with another versador (verse composer and "improvisor"),
challenging the poetic, metric, and thematic skills of all the versadores
participating in this particular "battle".
It is very important for the versador to know how to build verses, and how
to talk accurately about everything that is happening on the stage. Vital
in this lyrical exercise is the poetic sensitivity with which verses are created.
Here one can see clearly the maturity of each improvisor.
(Translated by Gaston Alzate)
Resources:
(Links will open in new windows.)
 Son Jarocho: Mexican Music from Southern Mexico [PDF Download]
This wonderful 8-page handout was written specifically for Arts Midwest World Fest by tour manager Lindajoy Fenley. It includes information specific to Los Utrera, as well as general information about son jarocho as a musical style, a glossary of son jarocho instruments, and some additional useful links.
Los Utrera's Blog
Alec Dempster is a visual artist and a member of Los Utrera.
The Web site of Conjunto Tenocelomeh provides absolutely the best explanation
of son jarocho on the web. It covers groups, instruments, history,
styles, and more. Anyone wanting to understand this music should take ten
minutes to read this site carefully. It will answer most questions, and it
is written clearly in both English and Spanish.
Los Instrumentos Musicales del Son Jarocho (in Spanish)
Conjunto jarocho and son jarocho defined
A very brief description of son jarocho.
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