Annual Cano Festival Showcases the Power of Mariachi Music

It is because of ensembles like Los Camperos de Nati Cano that the old-fashioned genre of mariachi remains a vital force in contemporary world music.

The group’s pristine sound and miraculously tight musicianship were on display at Fiesta Navidad, Cano’s annual Christmas pageant held Tuesday at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach. (The program will be repeated Thursday at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro and Dec. 17 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.)

A performance as dazzling as it was heartwarming, the fiesta was graced by the colorful traditional dances of the Ballet Folklorico Ollin and by a stage set that re-created the facade of a Mexican hacienda under a starry sky.

Cano was careful to design a program for all tastes. Beginning with the ritualistic posadas (a procession symbolizing the journey of Joseph and Mary looking for shelter on Christmas Eve), the performance left enough space for plenty of rancheras, Christmas carols and even a brief segment acknowledging the strong influence of Spanish music in mariachi.

The occasional novelty aspects of the pageant (such as a son jarocho version of “La Bamba”) didn’t obscure the most authentic moments of the evening. Toward the end of the show, the bolero “Historia de un Amor” was performed with such loving purity that it stayed with the audience long after the curtain fell.