“I was more excited about that mariachi band and having that representation because my husband is African American and our families are coming together,” Ms. Tate said. “I feel like that’s what made the wedding. Without the band, I don’t know if it would’ve been the same.”
The Rhythm of a Culture
Mariachi, as a word, has multiple meanings. The term can stand for the specific genre of music, for the ensemble playing it or for an individual group member.
A mariachi musician “plays in a mariachi band playing mariachi music,” said Estevan Azcona, 51, an assistant professor at the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona who has taught ethnomusicology and Chicano and Latino music, history and culture for more than 20 years.
In a mariachi, musicians play various string instruments — guitar, guitarrón, violin and, on occasion, harp — along with trumpets and, depending on the size of the ensemble, drums. Typically, there are one or two lead vocalists. The energized rhythms combine to produce an intense, infectious and distinct sound.
“Singing is part and parcel of what we have congealed in our imagination as traditional mariachi; this, of course, alongside the stylized charro, charra or charrx attire the musicians typically wear,” said Laura G. Gutiérrez, 55, an associate professor of Latinx studies at the University of Texas at Austin. “A talented mariachi can make any song in the tradition of mariachi. Because of this openness, I think everyone feels invited into the celebration, and we all feel welcomed.”
The music’s origins can be traced to central Mexico, largely around Jalisco. The folk music that developed in the region hybridized Indigenous, African and Spanish rhythms.
