A musician in LA tries to keep ‘Son Jarocho’ alive

If you’ve ever heard “La Bamba,” then you’ve heard Son Jarocho. The Mexican folk music style has been popular in the L.A. area for many decades. In the late 1950s, Ritchie Valens helped to bring a spotlight to it. And in the ’70s and ’80s, Los Lobos continued to popularize the sound.

César Castro is a contemporary ‘Son Jarocho’ musician who lives in L.A. but comes from the place where the music was born – Veracruz. Castro is a 21st-century renaissance man of Son Jarocho in Los Angeles. Since he arrived from Veracruz, 12 years ago, he’s become a bandleader, an instrument maker, a teacher, and a few other things. But at the center of Castro’s work is the music he plays.

Son Jarocho’s best-known anthem is “La Bamba.” While he plays this tune, Castro demonstrates the genre’s two main instruments: the Requinto – a small four-string lead guitar – and the Jarana, a small, eight-string guitar. Castro says this music opened a whole new world to him when he first heard it:

“When I was thirteen, I had no music background. What I heard was happiness, harmony. But I couldn’t put that in words. I just felt good to walk in that little space, watching people about my age, doing something and I was like, wait, what’s that, curiosity. And finally, when I was able to throw a chord in the Jarana, it was amazing.

Something similar happened to East L.A. guitarist Chuy Sandoval when he first heard this music, eight years ago:

“When I heard Son Jarocho, and most importantly what hit me first was the lyrics, the verses. When I heard what these people were singing about. They were saying words and phrases that I had heard my Mom use at home. I had an emotional response to it. And not only that but it’s so much fun to play!”

Sandoval is one of the four members of Cambalache, a Son Jarocho band led by Cesar Castro. Their new album is called “Constelación de Sonidos – Constellation of Sounds.” The tunes are traditional Son Jarocho. But they’re played on something more familiar to Los Angeles—electric guitars. Sandoval says every song in the album is a traditional Son Jarocho:

“But we’re playing them with the sounds that ‘Us’, when I say ‘Us’ I mean the Chicanos that are in the band, the sounds that the Chicanos grew-up with. So, there’s going to be a lot of electric guitar, a lot of rock and roll influence, oldies influence in there, but throwing it in there with Sones Jarochos.”

Rafael Figueroa is a researcher from Veracruz who writes about the music and culture of Son Jarocho. He says it’s easy to see why it’s become so popular in the L.A. area. Figueroa says ‘Son Jarocho’ is an alternative to Mariachi and it’s an easily accessible style of traditional Mexican music:

“You can adapt it to your own needs, you can play with it, you can add some things, you can add people. It’s flexible enough to accommodate almost any taste, you can play it slow, you can play it fast, you can participate even if you’re not really an accomplished musician, you can participate in Son Jarocho somehow.”

A big part of participating in Son Jarocho is the celebration of music and dance called Fandango. This is a gathering where musicians play their instruments and sing, while dancers take turns on a wood platform called Tarima. Castro says the Fandango is an engaging ritual:

“So it’s easy to start participating and you can do it with percussion which can be an easy-in, let’s say that way with a simple pattern and you’re already participating. And then when you feel that, when you feel welcome to a new community then you want to be part of it right, you want to come back, music makes you feel good then you want to keep practicing it.”

Cesar Castro’s band Cambalache will be doing a special concert on June 3rd at the Aratani Theater in Little Tokyo. It will be his opportunity to honor some of the musicians from Veracruz that have helped him along the way – and a chance for many local musicians to honor a teacher who continues to spread the word about Son Jarocho to anyone who will listen.

To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.