Music in Tepoztlán
Perhaps the variety of music is one of the attributes that draw people from other countries to relocate to Mexico. I was drawn by the culture of family and community, instead of work and shopping that predominates in the US. The glue that holds together the community are its fiestas, and that includes music. Here we'll explore how music is presented--its various forms--including concerts, festivals, parades, in the streets, and in clubs.
Noise
The noise of fiestas was overpowering for me during the initial adjustment period after moving here.
I met a native of Mexico City. She told me she goes to London on vacations to get peace and quiet.
Tepoztlán, where I live in central Mexico, is a tourist town. Mexicans come here from Cuernavaca, Mexico City, and other places to have family celebrations and other. The fiestas include loud bands and fireworks. Although I’ve gotten used to them, I find the fireworks annoying and get startled sometimes.
In neighborhoods away from the downtown (Centro) one hears roosters in the morning and nighttime barking and meowing of pets that live in the street.
After a while, these noises didn’t bother me.
But the worst--firecrackers, do. These are very dangerous, frighten pets, and sometimes I jump when they go off. My understanding is that they are a wake up call. They go along with parades, to announce church services, and are very common at all fiestas. I could do well without them. On weekends, there are many outsiders who come for catered parties and they have very high volume terrible live bands. Often these are close to where I live and sometimes they play into the wee hours.
Fiestas
There are numerous types of fiestas: for the family, neighborhood, and town; and then there are religious and state holidays. Always something to celebrate!
Christmas (Natividad) is one that everybody loves. Here is a video with a musician singing in the market followed by one showing the booths selling electronic musical lights. What a mess of sounds? Can you make out any from this hodge-podge?
Here is the band for our neighborhood celebration held on the church grounds. At homes there are often large celebrations for a death, marriage, or fifteenth birthday, and these usually include a band. It is a special treat when a Mariachi band comes in to one's home.
The mixed expat/non-local Mexican population have festivals. The one shown below has many types of bands performing to raise funds for setting up a musician's union. The video after that is a campout to network for ecological causes.
The streets
Partly because the weather is so good here, and for other reasons, there are a lot of different types of music in the streets providing Tepoztlán with a very festive atmosphere.
There are even some rock bands!
The clubs
In this article, I am not able to fully document the club scene. Perhaps that will come later. Live music has given way to the more currently popular electronic variety. But I personally favor the live variety. I love to dance to live music, and here is a friend visiting from England who was a professional dancer.
As you may remember, one of my passions is playing blues harmonica, and mostly I play with a partner, Steve, who visits yearly from California.
Sometimes I sit in, and was overjoyed to play with six older and more seasoned musicians in a classic rock cover band.
A local musician
I wrote this article on Jim Doney. He performs jazz and teaches drums.
Here he is with one of his regular bands, Jazz Is.
And here he plays gypsy jazz in a duet with his son.
Jim is an excellent drum teacher, as you can see in this video, where children use five-gallon plastic pails as drums.
We've run the gamut--from music in the streets, to festivals, clubs, and neighborhoods. I did not cover the club scene well, and I left out concerts in our auditorium. I can't cover everything, but will try to give you something on those soon.
Most of the videos above follow the latest trend--they are "shorts," or "reels" that run less than a minute. This is a departure from my longer ones. How do you feel about this? I am taking an informal straw poll. Please send me an email, or mention how you feel about this in the comments. Do you prefer less of the longer videos, or are the shorts better,? Might you like a mixture?
Experience this music live, in-person! Come visit! We'd love to host you and will tailor your visit to indivual needs, producing a stress-free informative and fun time here in Tepoztlán
