An Interview with Miguel Martínez

Jonathan Clark is a well-known and respected mariachi historian. He lived for 12 years in Mexico, playing the guitarrón full-time and studying the instrument with Natividad de Santiago of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. While in Mexico, he collected many historical photographs, documents, and testimonies of seminal musicians. He is the author of numerous articles on mariachi history.

Introduction

Every genre of music has its list of all-time greats, and mariachi music is no exception. When we list great songwriters, we include José Alfredo Jiménez, Tomás Méndez, Juan Záizar, Alberto Cervantes, and Ernesto Cortázar; Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, Lucha Reyes, Javier Solís, Lola Beltrán, Vicente Fernández, and Miguel Aceves Mejía figure among the vocalists; Rubén Fuentes, Jesús Rodríguez de Híjar, Manuel Esperón, and Rigoberto Alfaro are renowned as great composers and arrangers. When we think of great mariachi trumpet players, the name Miguel Martínez resonates with great intensity.

So many contemporary mariachi trumpet players point to the sound of Miguel Martínez's trumpet as their ultimate guide and inspiration. In addition, Miguel Martínez is the composer of important mariachi repertoire, including the pasodobles Por Tapatías, Juan Silveti, Capetillo, and Curro Vénzor, polkas La Chuparrosa, Café Colón, and Teatro Principal, as well as Las Tres Pelonas and Sincero Corazón.

This month, we have the good fortune to present the first portion of an interview of this great artist conducted by mariachi historian and MENC National Advisory Committee member Jonathan Clark. The conclusion of the interview, along with the full original Spanish text will be presented in next month’s newsletter, accompanied by a number of photographs of Señor Martínez. Enjoy!

- William J. Gradante, MENC National Advisory Committee Chair-Elect and Editor

This is March 1st, 2007, and we’re in Tlalnepantla, in the state of Mexico, at the home of maestro Miguel Martínez Domínguez. It’s nine o’clock in the evening, and he has graciously granted me this interview.

How It All Began

Jonathan Clark (JC): Don Miguel, I understand your career in mariachi music began more by circumstance than by choice.

Miguel Martínez (MM): I’d enjoyed music since childhood, but I’d never considered making a career out of it. My father wanted me to be a medical doctor. I was still in grade school when he was involved in a high-tension cable accident… and he died. My studies came to an abrupt end because I had younger siblings, and I had to go to work to help my mother get through the crisis. I must have been 10 or 11 years old at the time.

JC: How did you begin playing the trumpet?

MM: A lowly mariachi of about five musicians used to pass by where we lived, and I would always follow them to the cantina at the corner. Noticing my fascination, one day the group leader said to me, “Buy yourself an instrument and come play with us.” I ran to my mother and said, “Mommy, the mariachi says that you should buy me an instrument.” “Don’t be silly!,” she said. What instrument do you think you’re going to play?” I went back to the man and asked him what instrument he thought I should get. “Buy yourself a trumpet,” he suggested, “because some groups out there are starting to use one.” They didn’t have a trumpet.

JC: And after much insistence on your part, your mother finally gave in.

MM: A few months later, she ended up borrowing forty pesos from my uncle, and with that money she bought me my first trumpet at the National Pawn Shop (Monte de Piedad).

JC: Who taught you how to play?

MM: A clarinetist taught me the scales, and I began learning repertory on my own.

JC: So that’s how you ended playing trumpet in Plaza Garibaldi at a very early age, to help support your family.

MM: Yes. It must have been around 1933. I was rather young, about 12 years old.

Plaza Garibaldi in the 1930s

JC: Can you describe for us what Garibaldi was like back in those days?

MM: To me, it was beautiful. It had trees, flowers, green lawns, palm trees… all well manicured. Yes, I liked it. In the middle of the garden was a bust of the hero Garibaldi. There were four wooden stands in the garden: two for food, and two for drinks. The food stands operated until seven in the evening; the drink stands opened at that time and closed at midnight. Those drinks were for the poor folks — coffee and cinnamon tea, both spiked with sugarcane alcohol — and beautiful girls were the barmaids. You know how centers of ill repute use women as a hook to lure customers! Those with more money, on the other hand, would drink pomegranate punch inside the Tenampa bar.

JC: It was quite different from the Plaza Garibaldi we know today.

MM: Ah, yes. They demolished the garden that used to be there. Gardens are the city’s lungs, you know — they produce oxygen and clean air — and they got rid of it all to construct the underground parking garage that’s there now.

JC: What was the plaza’s atmosphere like?

MM: Well, back then Mexico City didn’t have that many inhabitants. Our groups would gather at seven in the evening. By midnight, there was no more activity. Everything shut down!

JC: What kind of customers hired a mariachi’s services?

MM: Most of the customers who hired a mariachi back then came from the states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Zacatecas, and Colima. Only a few came from Nayarit, since a mariachi meant something different to them. Only rarely would a Mexico City native hire us.

JC: Where did the musicians come from?

MM: Most of Concho’s group members were from Cocula; the others were from Ameca and San Martín Hidalgo. Those who played outside, as best I remember, came from places like San Julián, Guachinango, Atotonilco, Zapotlán el Grande (now Ciudad Guzmán), Guadalajara, and other parts of Jalisco.

JC: How many mariachi groups were there in all?

MM: Outside in the plaza, only five. There weren’t any more than that.

JC: And how many of those groups had a trumpet player?

MM: Outside, only two: don Pedrito “Scarface,” and yours truly.

JC: What about inside the Tenampa?

MM: Ah, no! They wouldn’t let you play in there. That was don Concho Andrade’s exclusive domain.

JC: The king of Plaza Garibaldi.

MM: Ah, yes! Don Concho was high class. No way could you compare yourself to him!

JC: Don Concho also had a trumpet player, right?

MM: His name was Candelario Salazar, better known as “El Pitayo” (a tree-like cactus plant). He was don Concho’s compadre, and he played really well.

JC: Was he a better player than the two of you outside?

MM: You’d better believe it! We were street musicians, and we were in the gutter in every respect: from the way we played to the way we dressed.

JC: Were there other good trumpet players?

MM: “El Pitayo” had a brother, Jesús Salazar, who played with Mariachi Tapatío, led by José Marmolejo. Don Jesús and that group were the best there was.

JC: Did Jesús Salazar have a nickname, too?

MM: No, probably because he never worked in Plaza Garibaldi. You know, they give everyone nicknames there. They gave me two: “El Cuerno” (The Horn) and “El Trompetas” (The Trumpet)!

JC: Back then, had you ever seen Mariachi Tapatío in person?

MM: Never. I listened to them on the radio, but where was I going to see them?

JC: Not even in the movies?

MM: In the movies, yes. They seemed like gods to me!

Mariachi Vargas

JC: How was it that Silvestre Vargas invited you to join his mariachi?

MM: Mmm! Jonny, what you’re asking me about didn’t happen until about seven years later..

JC: Well, during that period, I assume you continued woodshedding on the trumpet.

MM: And hard! You see, I’ve always practiced my instrument a lot because I was and am in love with music and with the trumpet. I’m always practicing, and I suppose I will be until God calls me home!

JC: So with the passing of time, one day around 1940, Silvestre Vargas arrived in Plaza Garibaldi searching for a trumpet player.

MM: Well, Vargas came looking for a trumpeter, hoping that by adding one to his group he could get a weekly program on XEW radio, since the most they would give him at that time was one program every two weeks, whereas Mariachi Tapatío had three programs per week. Before they could make any changes to the group lineup, however, they first had to pass a sound check in the broadcast studios, particularly with the addition of an instrument as prominent as the trumpet. But Vargas didn’t come looking for me, Jonny. He came looking for don Pedrito because, to be honest, he played his trumpet really well. At least that’s how it sounded to me, to give credit where credit is due.

JC: So, you were the last trumpet player that Vargas approached?

MM: He left! I think don Pedro told him something like this: “Maestro Vargas, I appreciate your taking an interest in me, but I’m not going to be around here much longer. I’m going back to my village.” And Vargas left! I was standing four or five steps away listening, and he didn’t even notice me.

JC: But you told me that he returned about three months later.

MM: Well, he continued searching and couldn’t find anyone. And where was he going to find someone if there weren’t any mariachi trumpet players back then?

JC: Until one day he invited you to an audition…

MM: Well, after he realized how difficult it was to find trumpeters… Yes, there were trumpet players, but they played classical, danzón, tropical, or banda music. They didn’t have the sound he was looking for. They might have been good musicians, but they didn’t blend with the mariachi.

JC: You told me earlier that you’d already been playing with mariachis in Garibaldi for about seven years.

MM: I wouldn’t say I got in the group because I was good. I think I got accepted because I already had mariachi experience and because I adapted to the mariachi in that audition. I also believe that God had me predestined to join Mariachi Vargas.

JC: Not one of the other trumpet players that auditioned had previously played mariachi music?

MM: No, they weren’t mariachi players. To them, the mariachi was something totally new.

JC: You explained to me before that those who auditioned before you were trumpet players from popular orchestras or bands. You also mentioned the existence of classical trumpet players. I assume that back then it would have been highly unlikely that a symphony orchestra trumpeter would desire or agree to play with a mariachi group.

MM: How could you even think such a thing? That would have been inconceivable back then! Neither did Vargas ever invite musicians from those realms.

Mariachi News

Mariachi Student Groups Impress Principals, Board Members

Student Mariachi Group Performs at Secondary School Principal Convention
In February, National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) members met in San Antonio, Texas, for their annual conference. During the event, principals enjoyed several performances by the local Somerset High School mariachi group, led by MENC National Advisory Committee Chair Noé Sánchez.

The Somerset High School Mariachi group, directed by MENC National Mariachi Advisory Committee Chair Noé Sánchez, performs at the 2008 NASSP National Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Kathryn Oliver (far right), Principal of Somerset High School, proudly acknowledges the group.

Clark County Mariachi Honor Ensembles Impress Board Members in Las Vegas
At a February school board meeting in Clark County, Nevada, the district's mariachi honor ensembles drew quite a bit of attention. The Las Vegas Sun noted that "as the strains of 'Palabra de Hombre' wafted through the halls, the School Board's meeting room quickly emptied into the foyer for the show." Students in this first-ever Clark County mariachi honor ensemble auditioned for selection in these ensembles and are led by Ramiro Benavides at Monaco Middle School.

Clark County's first-ever mariachi ensemble performs for school board members.

Mariachi in the Schools Program Offers Training, Scholarships for Mariachi Students

In response to the growing interest in mariachi in the Sweetwater Union High School District of California, the Mariachi in the Schools Program provides mariachi training to students and instructors. Conferences offer elementary through college-age students the opportunity to study each of the mariachi instruments. The program also works to increase students' self-esteem by developing their pride in mariachi music and its performance.

Along with training opportunities, the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation offers scholarships to each of the graduating seniors in the program, along with graduating and continuing mariachi students at Southwestern Community College, outstanding middle school students, and ballet folklórico students. The organization honors mariachi students each year at an annual gala dinner in which elected officials present the students with certificates.

To learn more about the Mariachi in the Schools Program, contact Sandi Smith at sandra.smith@suhsd.k12.ca.us or by calling 619-585-4405.

PBS Features Mariachi Documentary

The PBS series Independent Lens will feature COMPAÑERAS, a rousing, passionate look at America's first all-female mariachi band, L.A.'s Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, on April 1. Learn more at www.pbs.org/companeras.

March Music Educators Journal Features Article on the Music of Mexico

The feature article of this month's Music Educators Journal is "Instrumental Music Experiences from Mexico." The article shares ways to connect with your students of Mexican heritage and provide multicultural experiences with instrumental music from Mexico. For a PDF of the article, visit MENC's journal page.

Foundations of Mariachi Education: Materials, Methods, and Resources Now Available from MENC

Beginning with how to start a mariachi program, each chapter of this book, copublished by MENC and Rowman & Littlefield Education, addresses a specific topic in mariachi education, including choosing appropriate repertoire, preparing for performances, and teaching each mariachi instrument—including voice. Each instrument chapter includes practical advice on care of the instrument, tuning, posture, fingerings, technique, and the role of the instrument within the mariachi ensemble. With dozens of music exercises distributed throughout the chapters, this resource shows you how to build your students' technical skills using mariachi repertoire so your students truly shine onstage. MENC National Advisory Committee members contributed the chapters, and William Gradante, chair-elect of the committee, is the editor. Visit www.rowmaneducation.com to learn more and order.

New Mariachi Method Book Now Available

Northeastern Music Publications recently released ¡Simplemente Mariachi!, a beginning mariachi method book by Marcia Neel, President of Music Education Consultants, and Francisco A. Grijalva. The book provides a comprehensive curriculum for first-year study that covers mariachi song forms, pitch relationships, music terminology, improvisation, basic composition, and mariachi history, and includes a CD.

Neel is the president of Music Education Consultants and has served as the supervisor of the secondary music education program of the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, which has a successful mariachi program. She is a veteran of 36 years in public school music education and is an active MENC member, speaker, and clinician. Grijalva is a well-known arranger of mariachi music. His arrangements have been performed by Mariachi Cobre and recorded by the Boston Pops.

For more information and to order this book, contact your local music store or Northeastern Music Publications at 866-385-8446 or info@nemusicpub.com.