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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMARIACHIOne of Mexico's regional styles, originating in states of Colima, Jalisco, Michoac…n, Nayarit and Sinaloa (i.e. mainly on the western seaboard). Brass arrangements have come to epitomize Mexico for tourists and filmgoers (and thanks partly to the 'Ameriachi' style of Herb Alpert). Etymology of the term is uncertain; often said to come from French for 'marriage' but was in use decades before the French intervention of 1861--7: it may be a corruption from Virgin Mary celebrations. Earliest ensembles on record at turn of the century incl. bass guitarron, violins and vihuela; later trumpet, trombone, flute or clarinet added. Cirilo Mamolejo has been credited with possibly the first use of trumpet c'25. US recording engineers recorded the music before the Mexican Revolution (1910--20); post-revolution governments fostered it as an ideological tool. Anthologies on Folklyric were the best and most readily available of the music's roots, incl. Mariachi Vargas (aka 'El Mejor Mariachi del Mundo' -- 'the best mariachi in the world'), Cuarteto Coculense and Mariachi Coculense 'Rodriguez' de Cirilo Marmolejo. Albums incl. The Earliest Mariachi Recordings 1908--1938 and Mariachi Coculense de Cirilo Marmolejo 1933--36. |