Customer Reviews

Mexico: Fiestas of Chiapas and Oaxaca

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This CD contains amazing field recordings made in the very southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. Many of the tracks come from festivals, rituals, or performances in public squares. Some highlight ancient musical traditions (of the Mayans) conjoined with the music of the Spanish Conquistadores. The recordings give the feeling of taking part in the festivals. People sing, yell, shout, talk, and laugh in the background. Some tracks have fireworks going off in them. In others church bells or other daily sounds of southern México ring out. This music comes right from the source. None of it is staged or altered to make it more "palatable" for people accustomed to highly processed music. It is raw and real.

Nonesuch originally released this album on vinyl way back in 1976. This issue represents at least the second re-release on CD (the first CD release happened in 1991). So the album really represents the festivals of Chiapas and Oaxaca from thirty years ago. Now the music also takes on a historical dimension.

"Ñuoco" and "Cantares de mi tierra" both contain incredible guitar playing and singing. "Bats'i Son Martomail", recorded in the town of Zinacantan, features both mournful and joyous wailing violins and singers. Apart from these incredible standout tracks, the CD includes great examples of music played with flute, marimba, drum, harp, and tortoise shell struck with deer antlers. Some songs evoke the mood of festivals. Others seep with religious devotion. All present great examples of music from extreme southern México.

If you like folk music, this CD has some real gems including Nuoco (an elusive Chilena), Cantares de Mi Tierra (a nice Istmeno waltz similar to La Llorona), an eerie & very musical recording of people praying in an Indigenous language & several catchy Drum & Flute sones.