“Special Collections hosts its third annual evening of song, featuring local musicians performing Mexican corridos in Spanish. Similar to English ballads, corridos tell the story of an event, a person or a place, and often include words of wisdom for those tempted by lust or greed. A brief lecture, titled, “An Introduction to the Corrido” will be given by Bob Diaz, Special Collections curator for the performing arts. This program is supported by the Mexican American Studies department”.

Listen to the audio of the program here.

Wow, what can I say? I’m so glad that  “Una Noche de Corridos” event turned out so well, in spite of the fact that the musicians that agreed to  play for us were not able to make it after all. We had over 100 people in attendance. I had asked the musicians to show up 15 minutes early. By 6pm, they still hadn’t shown up. I was sweating bullets by then.

When 6pm rolled around it was time to start the program. I gave  my  presentation on the corrido, and  fumbled a bit along the way with having to toggle back and forth from one program to another, but I got through it. The audience was very receptive and understanding, and they seemed to enjoy the videos I presented.

Once I ended my part of the program (see my previous blog post, What’s to know about corridos, anyway?, as I used it as the basis for the presentation), it was time to announce that our expected musicians hadn’t shown up. I then asked if there were any other musicians in the house who wanted to sing. I knew Bobby Benton was there with his guitar, so I figured I could count on him. He agreed to sing. And lo and behold, to everyone’s delight and surprise another individual also came forward. Her name is Tiffany Alvarez. I had my guitar on hand, so she used it to perform. Tiffany is a biologist and mariachi musician who has performed with Mariachi Mujer 2000, and Bobby Benton is a native of Barrio Anita, and a well respected singer whose talents can be heard on the cd recording titled Heroes and Horses: Corridos from the Arizona-Sonoran Borderlands.

They each sang three songs, and accompanied one another on guitar. The songs included: El Siete Leguas, La Herradera, El Corrido de Nogales, and El Preso Numero Nueve. The audience just ate it up. They loved it!

Again, I can’t say how grateful I am to these two wonderful individuals!

After the program, folks stuck around to enjoy some food and beverages. I met many wonderful people last night. My good friends Mima and Pernela were there too. We sang happy birthday to Mima, and I mentioned that Pernela had won a corrido contest at Tucson Meet Yourself. She said she was going to get me back for that one. She brought her sister Gloria, who used to babysit me when I was a baby. I love Gloria. She reminds me of Mrs Jones. She and Irene, my sister, were great friends in their youth.

By the time I got home last night, it was nearly 9pm. I was exhausted, and still a bit in shock over what happened. Thank goodness it all turned out so well!

Here is a very nice note I just received from someone who attended:

Hello Bob:

Just a quick note to say how much my son and I enjoyed last night’s program! We had a great time.

I really enjoyed the musicians and the snacks after. The whole thing reminded me of when I was a kid and my dad and uncles would sit in the backyard on a Saturday night playing the guitar and singing, all while the beer and tequila flowed. Of course, my mother wasn’t happy about the last part but I remember when my grandmother would join in the singing. I haven’t thought about that for a long time, so thank you.

Anyway, I wanted you to know that it was a lot of fun. And we enjoyed your talk, too. My dad used to play all kinds of Jose Jimenez records.

Karen

————————————-

P.S.

Writer Xavier Omar Otero wrote this review of the event for the Tucson Weekly.