Old And New Mix Together As Traditional And Electric Instrumentation And Irresistible Swing Drives Seven-Piece Band’s Sweaty, Vital Music
“On opening night of the Brooklyn Folk Festival, Latin American ensemble Guachinangos played their energetic blend of Mexican son jarocho and Colombian cumbia music to an audience seemingly unable to sit down or stay still. Packed into pew rows and spilling into the aisles, listeners swayed and clapped along as couples twirled together in front of the stage. The room felt warm with joy.”
–No Depression
Incredible NYC seven-piece son jarocho band Guachinangos fuses the Veracruz, Mexico tradition with cumbia, champeta (rhythms and styles of music from the Atlantic Coast of Colombia), as well as rock. Led by master of the requinto, vocalist, and jarana player Juan Carlos Marin and violin player and vocalist Gabriella Grimaldi, the band will have its debut album Guachinangos, Vol. 1 released July 10 on Jalopy Records.
Today, the band shared its first single “Chuchumbé,” which embodies rebelliousness in the face of hypocrisy by the church and a prohibition of dancing during the Inquisition. Guachinangos added contemporary lyrics and transposed the rhythm to a champeta beat. HEAR/SHARE “Chuchumbé”
Son jarocho is a living tradition, with its masters actively practicing in Veracruz, Mexico City, and New York. Guachinangos avoid re-creation, painting on an expanded canvas. In addition to jarana, requinto, and violin, the band sports vocal harmonies, drums, bass, zapateado (dancing on a wooden box), electric guitar, tambor alegre, quijada, tambora, maracas, and piano. Band members bridge generations and cultures, with some trained in conservatories and others growing up in the folk tradition. A mix of traditional and electric instrumentation fuels sweaty, vital concerts that are equal parts community gathering and dance party. Arrangements evolved on stage. Collaborators in NYC and Mexico enrich the album.
The songs are a mix of new and old. Gabriel Guzman, formerly of Radio Jarocho, contributes two 21st century compositions: Guachinangos bring electric guitar and a Colombian cumbia rhythm section to their version of his catchy “Café Café.” Guzman and Radio Jarocho debuted minor key “El Deseo” at the Kennedy Center. Guachinangos’ rendition is the first studio recording of the song, featuring their vocal harmonies over Juan Carlos’ requinto and jarana.
Other songs are a collaboration between past and present, with the verses of the energetic conga piece “Conga del Gavilan” discovered in Veracruz archives and put to music by Veracruz’s Patricio Hidalgo of the band Afrojarocho. Contemporary son jarocho players Fernando Guadarrama (of the GRAMMY-nominated Conga Patria Son Jarocho Collective) and Sinuhé Padilla (of Jarana Beat) contribute original lyrics to the traditional song “La Morena” and sing on the album.
Beautiful album closer “La Morena,” which celebrates women, traces back to Veracruz at least two centuries and is still played at fandangos and by jaraneros worldwide. Guachinangos accompany it with zapateado by Julia del Palacio (of Radio Jarocho). The “Dios Nuncio Muere” was composed by violinist Macedonio Alcala in mid-19th century Oaxaca; this emotionally-affecting waltz speaks to belief in a higher power in the face of loss.
“We have a fusion that we’re trying to embody this feeling of, like, live joy, the energy of being together in a community, the idea that, there’s nothing that has to be pure about it. We’re not in a small town in Veracruz that has been playing this style of music the same way for generations,” says Marin.
Grimaldi adds, “We have dedicated the album to all the masters of this tradition who have made it possible and have also given us their blessing to be innovative and experimental at times. We do try to respect the living tradition, maestros and others who do keep things more traditional.”
Guachinangos partners with local migrant communities in New York and Philadelphia to offer free music classes to Latinx youth with the objective of increasing their confidence, self-expression, connection with their community and pride in understanding their home culture and cultural identity.
Guachinangos, Vol. 1 Track Listing with notes
1. Chuchumbé (composed by Gilberto Gutiérrez, arranged and lyrics by Guachinangos and Sinuhé Padilla)
2. Conga del Gavilan (Public Domain, recovered by Dr. Antonio Garcia de Leon, arranged by Patricio Hidalgo)
3. Café Café (Gabriel Guzman)
4. Dios Nunca Muere (Composed by Macedonio Alcalá, arranged by Guachinangos)
5. El Deseo (Gabriel Guzman)
6. Bemba y Tablao (Composed by Patricio Hidalgo, lyrical contributions by Gabriel Guzmán)
7. La Morena (Traditional Son Jarocho, arranged by Guachinangos and Sinuhé Padilla with lyrical contributions by Sinuhé Padilla and Fernando Guadarrama)
Guachinangos Tour Dates
May 16 – Brooklyn, NY – Barbés
May 23 – Queens, NY – Woodside on the Move
May 30 – Philadelphia – West Philly Porchfest
June 6 – Queens, NY – Terrazzo 7
Guachinangos, Vol. 1 Credits
Musicians:
Juan Carlos Marín – requinto, jarana, vocals
Victor Babilonia Jr. – drums, cajón
Elvira Bustamante – vocals
Leonardo Catricala – bass
Julia del Palacio – zapateado
Alberto Fontes – electric guitar
Gabriella Grimaldi – violin, vocals
Fernando Guadarrama – vocals
Edu Mora Costa – electric guitar
Inkarrí Ortíz – tambor alegre
Sinuhé Padilla – jarana, quijada, vocals
Carlos Rienzo – tambor alegre, tambora, maracas, vocals
Santiago Rozo – piano
Composers & Arrangers: Fernando Guadarrama, Gabriel Guzmán, Gabriella Grimaldi, Patricio Hidalgo, Juan Carlos Marín, Sinuhé Padilla
Album Producers (all songs, except as noted for Sinuhe): Juan Carlos Marín, Gabriella Grimaldi, Saguiv Rosenstock, Sinuhé Padilla (Morena & Chuchumbé)
Mixing: Saguiv Rosenstock
Mastering: Don Fierro
Recording Engineer (Chuchumbé, La Morena, Dios Nunca Muere, El Deseo & Conga del Gavilán): Saguiv Rosenstock
Recording Engineer (Bemba & Café Café): Hayden Ticehurst
Recording Assistant Engineers: Nelson Antonio Espinal (Bemba y Tablao & Café Café), Alberto Fontes (Chuchumbé), Gustavo García (La Morena), Edu Mora Costa (Chuchumbé)
