Customer Reviews

Music of New Mexico

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This is an excellent collection of a minor genre. Some of the songs, such as Amar es Entregarse and Mananitas Tapitas, are standards, but most of the recordigs are very specific to New Mexico. Madre de Dolores, for example, is a classic penitente song that plays more as a chant. Los Comanchitos is a very catchy tune, but has a grim history. The song is sung in the voices of "captivos," children taken during Comanche raids against Spanish settlements. All of the songs on CD are typical of field recordings by local performers, not by polished musicians. This is especially obvious once we leave the choir-based religious tunes and get into the more folkloric music. This CD saves an important and often overlooked aspect of American history. I doubt, however, that most listeners would find much of it musically pleasant.

This is very locally-produced music, so the quality is not the greatest. But some of the songs are very interesting (especially "La Tetona"), "Viva Chihuahua" is a border "classic" of sorts, and it does present a lots of very typical songs of the region. Its companion, Music of New Mexico: Native American Traditions, is also very interesting.

I can't stop playing it. I also cry for my Grandparents and feel their soul. Growing up in Arriba County New Mexico I can better understand how the Spanish welcomed the Indians into their lives. I remember some of the songs being song in the small adobe churches. Thank you for my very treasured past through this CD.