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Blog Post
Justo a tiempo para la Extravaganza del Mariachi Vargas en diciembre pasado, Daniel Martínez, integrante por muchos años del Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, lanzó su primer disco compacto como solista, que se titula Mundo Viejo y se subtitula De México Para el Mundo… Un Nuevo Compositor, en el cual se destaca como cantautor. En este artículo, Jonathan Clark entrevista a Daniel sobre su reciente lanzamiento, un CD que sería de interés para todos los aficionados al mariachi. JC: Oye, Daniel. Hace muchos años, cuando yo te conocí, todavía no componías canciones. ¿Cómo surgió esta fase de tu trayectoria?...
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Blog Post
Daniel Martínez nació en Saltillo, Coahuila el 29 de septiembre de 1956. No hubo músicos en su familia directa. A la edad de 11 años, un tío político le enseñó a tocar vihuela, y poco después hizo su debut con un mariachi. A los 15 años fue a Monterrey, Nuevo León, donde trabajó como vihuelista con varios grupos, cambiándose después al guitarrón. (more…)
Blog Post
This is the fifth profile in a series of blogs written by mariachi historian Jonathan Clark on current members of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. This profile features Daniel Martínez, longtime vocalist and violinist for Mariachi Vargas. Daniel Martínez was born on September 29, 1956 in Saltillo, Coahuila, to a family of non-musicians. An uncle-by-marriage taught him to play the vihuela at age 11, and soon after, he made his debut in a mariachi. At age 14, he moved to Monterrey, Nuevo León, where he played vihuela with several groups, and eventually switched to guitarrón. (more…)
Blog Post
Click here to listen to the original recording of "Nola" by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, with Miguel Martínez as trumpet soloist Experience the Splendor of the Mariachi Trumpet with Mariachi Vargas’ most recent trumpet player, Fernando Velásquez, and the group’s very first trumpeter, Miguel Martínez. Mariachi Vargas trumpeter Fernando Velásquez joins mariachi historian Jonathan Clark in an intergenerational tribute to maestro Miguel Martínez, who in 1942 became the first trumpeter to join Mariachi Vargas. (more…)
Blog Post
This is the second posting of a series of profiles written by mariachi historian Jonathan Clark on current members of Mariachi Vargas. Profiles will be posted on Mariachimusic.com blogs leading up to the 19th Annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza, Dec. 1-7. Fernando Velásquez was born in the Altos de Jalisco town of Tepatitlán de Morelos, where his father, itinerant mariachi trumpet player José Martín Velásquez, happened to be working at the time. Shortly afterward, the Valásquez family moved to Guadalajara, where Fernando spent most of his early childhood. “Although I consider Guadalajara my hometown,” he says, “most of my life I’ve...
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Blog Post
Featured photo: Cynthia Muñoz, Jonathan Clark and Luis Fernando Velásquez honor Miguel Martínez at the 2013 Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza. For decades, Miguel Martínez has been celebrated as one of the most influential trumpeters in the history of mariachi music. Numerous articles, interviews, and biographical sketches have documented his career with Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán and his role in shaping the sound of modern mariachi. Yet relatively little scholarship has examined how Martínez's artistry transformed mariachi trumpet performance or why his influence continues to be felt generations later. In a recent article published in the INTERNATIONAL TRUMPET GUILD JOURNAL, Vincent A. Lázaro—an attorney, historian,...
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Blog Post
Jonathan Clark Cualquiera que haya platicado con músicos de mariachi de edad avanzada seguramente ha escuchado historias sobre la época de oro de la radio (c. 1930–1960); un periodo en el que las transmisiones en vivo y directo —protagonizadas por los mejores músicos y vocalistas de la época— eran un acontecimiento diario en México. GO TO TEXT IN ENGLISH Nuestro conocimiento de esta tradición se limita, en gran medida, a descripciones históricas y a fotografías de aquellos programas en directo, dado que sobreviven muy pocas grabaciones de audio de dichas transmisiones. Si bien se estima que hoy en día existen...
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Blog Post
Jonathan Clark Anyone who has conversed with older mariachi musicians has certainly heard stories of the days when radio was king (c.1930–1960) — a period when in-person, live broadcasts featuring the finest musicians and vocalists of the era were an everyday occurrence in Mexico. LEER TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL Our knowledge of this tradition is mainly limited to historical descriptions and still photographs of those live programs, since very few audio recordings of such transmissions survive. While it’s estimated that over 100,000 recordings of U.S. old-time radio programs exist today, Mexican programs from the same period are relatively scarce, and those...
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Blog Post
In my March 10 blog, “Covid-19 takes toll on mariachi community,” I spoke about the scarcity of mariachi work during the pandemic, ending on the optimistic note that “the light at the end of the tunnel is already visible.” Well, a lot has changed over the last two months. Not only has mariachi work returned, but it has returned in record proportions. Virtually every mariachi musician and group leader I’ve spoken to coincides that there was more work this past May than any of us had previously seen in our lifetimes, and some of us have been playing this music...
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Blog Post
En octubre del año pasado (2020), volví a tener el placer de entrevistar a Carlos Martínez, esta vez para una nueva serie de podcasts que ofrece gratuitamente mariachimusic.com. Dado que habían pasado casi siete años desde que él se unió al Mariachi Vargas en 2014, pensé que éste sería un momento oportuno para repasar su carrera musical y actualizarla. Mi lista de preguntas abarcaba desde sus primeras experiencias musicales hasta sus últimas producciones con el Vargas. Tal como esperaba de este músico observador e introspectivo por excelencia, la entrevista fue amena e informativa. “¡Qué bien salió!”, exclamó Carlos cuando le...
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