Cinco de Mayo
Soundcheck | May 3, 2010
Join us for the fiesta as we celebrate the music and popular culture of Mexico on Soundcheck today. Music writer Larry Birnbaum provides a guided tour of 100 years of mariachi music, and discuss such Mexican pop culture icons as film star and singer Vicente Fernandez, his singer-son Alejandro Fernandez, and Placido Domingo. Then, the party heats up with interviews and a live performance from the Grammy-winning band Mariachi Real de Mexico, a band that plays weddings, fiestas, and even once at Bruce Springsteen's birthday party. Members Ramon Ponces and his son, Ramon Ponces, Jr. helped form the Mariachi Association of New York, which united 12 mariachi bands, and helped create a mariachi school for young people. What makes this form of music so popular? Ponce Jr. explained, "If you are happy, if you are down…if you want to be romantic, there is going to be a song for that special moment," Ponce said. "I think that's why people like mariachi music a lot." Viva la musica de Mexico!
