This week we point our ears just a little south of the border to check out a little slice of norteño sounds from Mexico’s northern regions from the 60’s and 70’s. Fusion has been as much a part of norteña music as much as any other genre. The technobanda sound and Nortec collective’s recent fusions of electronica and sampling could be the most recent experimentation with the genre, but before all the digital shape shifting; bands we’re doing their own experimentation in the 60’s with the electric guitar, bass, and even steel guitar creating new interesting soundz by artist’s like Guanajuato’s Manny Perez y sus Cachiros and Los Moonlights from Tijuana.
Besides rock, the other big fusion in norteño occurred with the wave of tropical music that swept the country from the 1950’s and on; it was a tropical boom that brought both Cuban and Colombian musicians who both resided and brought their rhythms to Mexico which only popularized dance rhythms like the mambo, cumbia, pachanga amongst others that would be picked up and reinterpreted by norteno musicians creating forms like cumbia norteña and banda bands from sinaloa interpreting takes on the charanga. Of course while tropical music was being imported into country, Mexican music and its styles were also being exported back to country’s like Colombia where they also enjoyed considerable popularity. Check out Los Tupamaros’ cover of Los Tigres del Norte’s hit “La Banda del Caro Rojo”, or the big banda craziness of Lizandro Meza’s side project Banda Los Hijos de la Nina Luz covering of all artist’s Rod Stewart!
Enjoy the tunes, EB & CG
playlist:
Tropical del Bravo–Cumbia Morena (Mexico)
Los Hermanos Telles–El Curruyo (Mexico)
Los Moonlights–Rosa Maria (Mexico)
Manny Perez y sus Cachiros–Soledad (Mexico)
Tropical del Bravo–El tao tao (Mexico)
Acapulco Tropical–La Soldadera (Mexico)
Tomy Ramirez y sus sonoritmicos–Jinetes en el Cielo (Mexico)
La Comparsa Universitaria de la Laguna–A Caballo (Mexico)
Perez Prado–La banda de Sinaloa (Mexico)
Banda Los Hijos de la Niña Luz–El Sapo/Crees que soy sexy (Colombia)
Los Tupamaros–La Banda del carro rojo (Colombia)
Los Tigres del Norte–El Porro (Mexico)
Alfonso Arau–Mojado Power (Mexico)
Domingo Flores y su Orquesta–Jamaica Ska (Mexico)
Banda Los Mochis de Porfirio Amarillas–La Pelea del Siglo (Mexico)
