POP MUSIC REVIEW : Mariachi With a Twist : Variety Is the Spice of Festival at Bowl

Mariachi rap, mariachi cumbia and symphonic mariachi shared the stage with the traditional music at the Mariachi USA Festival at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday. Although purists might not care for these daring experiments, the fourth edition of the annual event respected the essence of the mariachi tradition while extending its potential and its appeal.

The four-hour show featured an all-ages audience, as well as an all-ages list of performers. Both the players and the public shared the cheerful, picnic-like atmosphere, and the commercial and artistic future of this festival seems to be in good hands.

Banda might be the hottest sound among Los Angeles’ Latino listeners, but mariachi--defined by a blend of trumpets, violins and guitars--is the most widely recognized Mexican music form, and to the fans at the Bowl it remains a source of joy and pride. The crowd’s dual heritage was expressed at the start of the show, with an a cappella rendition of the Mexican national anthem followed by a moving, eight-trumpet version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The first standing ovation went to Mariachi Las Campanas, a powerful Texas group that displayed not only traditionally oriented material, but also an unusual violin-heavy blend of mariachi and country and Western that made people jump out of their seats. They lose points, though, for their grotesque version of legendary corrido composer Lalo Guerrero’s “Reynalda”--interestingly arranged but marred by the musicians’ bumps and grinds.

Pedro Rey’s Mariachi Los Galleros offered the tightest vocal work within the more traditional style of mariachi music. Rey would return near the show’s end for a memorable duet with Mexican singer Alicia Juarez, who also sang her own impressive rendition of “Las Coplas,” by the late Mexican ranchera icon Jose Alfredo Jimenez.

You know that the banda craze would not be absent. Florida’s Mariachi Cobre joined the West Coast fever and invited three couples onstage to dance the quebradita . Other dance groups included a Veracruz folkloric ballet.

Among the junior mariachi groups that were showcased (most notably cumbia -flavored Mariachi Tecolote from Texas and California’s state champions Mariachi Santa Rosa), the most striking feature was the astounding vocal skills of many of the solo singers. One voice especially stood out: that of Griselda Perez, 17, a Sylmar High School student who is a potential star. Guadalajara’s Las Perlitas Tapatias, an all-female mariachi group, broke the gender barrier and the dress code: Instead of the traditional tight-fitting slacks, scarf-like bow ties, boots and charro hats, they wore simple dresses, and played impressively.

Before the closing fireworks, the peak of the evening was the show-stopping performance of California’s Mariachi Sol de Mexico, led by Jose Hernandez. Hernandez, the festival’s music director, is the East L.A. musician responsible for taking mariachi music to unprecedented heights in the last half-decade through his cross-breeding of mariachi with other styles.

On Saturday, Hernandez covered a wide scope, from traditional mariachi to classical flashes (including a magnificent number with the Mariachi USA Symphony and Folkloric Ballet) to mainstream Latino pop.

The only flaw in Hernandez’s set was a skit in which a child rap fan demanded some “real” stuff. Hernandez and Sol de Mexico took off their hats, put on sunglasses and pleased the dancing boy with a rap song about mariachi. It proved that despite his contribution to mariachi music, he’s only human.