MUSIC SIN FRONTERAS

Rockiachi, Broadwayiachi, jazziachi, funiachi … Mariachi Real Axixic

This past weekend, the oldest and largest English-speaking theater in Mexico, the Lakeside Little Theatre, about an hour outside of Guadalajara, hosted a weekend mariachi extravaganza with the award-winning Mariachi Real Axixic, accompanied by Mariachi Juvenil Axixic and a passel of guest stars who showed just how flexible Mexico’s national music is.

The lineup included jazz saxophonist Eleazar “Chuco” Soto, Broadway singer Tim Johnson, and opera/ranchero/mariachi singer Dr. Juanita Ulloa. And it invited its award-winning rhythm guitarist, Chris Cuevas, to pick up his 2008 Jackson electric guitar and shred through a medley of Jalisco homeboy Carlos Santana’s rock favorites, while MRA backed him with happy mariachi notes. It was spectacular – the audience clapped, sang, and jumped to its feet to applaud.

Mariachi has always rocked with rhythm and horns and enthusiasm (actually, the horns didn’t arrive until the 1950s), but Cuevas’s shredding counterposed with violins, a harp, a guitarron, a vihuela and the sound of mariachi captivated an audience of Mexicans and Gringos.

But it did not stop there. A gut-grabbing trumpet solo by Luis Mateo segued to jazz saxophonist Chuco Soto, who moved out to center stage and wailed while the mariachi violin trio practically danced behind him. And if you listened carefully, adding another dimension to the songs was Jorge Corredor’s harp, and the steady beat of the guitarron, standing in quite ably for a drum kit.

The whole auditorium was singing “Oye Como Va” and clapping and swaying along to the “rockiachi” blasting off the stage. Cuevas also contributed hot electric notes to Juanpi Medeles’s composition of “El Llantro de Michicihualli” a rock- infused celebration of the Aztec Goddess and protector of Lake Chapala, Michicihualli. And before the Santana medley, Broadway singer Tim Johnson blew the house away with a mariachi version of “The Impossible Dream” from The Man from La Mancha.

The two- hour program also included mariachi-style Russian Prisiadki dance number, “Korbushka”, composed by MRA’s music director/violinist Juanpi Medeles, and “Cuando Canto” by Dr. Junita Ulloa in a brightly sequined gown, bright red rebozo, and flowers in her hair, delivering the traditional song with her crystal clear operatic-tinged voice.

Marichi Juvenil Axixic (MJA) opened for MRA, under the direction of Daniel Medeles, violinist/teacher/singer/visionary founder of the Pedro Rey School of Mariachi. MJA is composed of the most outstanding students of the Pedro Rey School, some as young as 11 and 12 years old, whose skill and talent and training have catapulted them into a sought-after professional band. MJA lent a freshness and passion to the concert, and the sparkle and joyfulness of female voices brought a colorful dimension to music while delivering their program of traditional mariachi songs.

The concert ended with a long medley that gave the principals from both bands solo time, and then two encores as the audience shouted “otra”. Each song by both bands was a rousing salute to the popularity and fun of mariachi, but I really, really loved adding an electric guitar and a jazz saxophone to the mariachi lineup. That was the most fun of all.

Mariachi Real Axixic and Mariachi Juvenil Axixic are not yet on streaming platforms, but check out YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@musicfridayvideo and https://www.youtube.com/@MariachiRealAxixicPuraVida, and https://bit.ly/4lMnGoh for videos.

Patrick O’Heffernan

Patrick O’Heffernan, PhD., is a music journalist and radio broadcaster based in Los Angeles, California, with a global following. His two weekly radio programs, MusicFridayLive! and MusicaFusionLA are heard nationwide and in the UK. He focuses on two music specialties: emerging bands in all genres, and the growing LA-based ALM genre (American Latino Music) that combines rock and rap, blues and jazz and pop with music from Latin America like cumbia, banda, jarocho and mariachi. He also likes to watch his friend drag race.