Son de Madera is a ''

son jarocho Son jarocho ("Veracruz Sound") is a regional folk musical style of Mexican Son from Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. It evolved over the last two and a half centuries along the coastal portions of southern Tamaulipas state an ...

'' band based in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, Mexico. Its core members are Ramón Gutiérrez Hernández, Tereso Vega, and Rubí Oseguera Rueda. The band was founded in 1992 by Ramón Gutiérrez and Laura Rebolloso.

Personnel

Gutiérrez, based in

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

, Veracruz, leads the group, plays the ''

guitarra de son Guitarra may refer to: *Gittern, a medieval string instrument *Guitarra Portuguesa, a traditional Portuguese string instrument used in Fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probabl ...

'' (also called ''requinto jarocho''), and sings. José Tereso Vega Hernández, son of elder master-musician Andrés Vega, lives in the Municipality of

Tlacotalpan Tlacotalpan is a city in Tlacotalpan Municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998 primarily for its architecture and colonial-era layout. The town was established in 1550 on what was originally an ...

, plays the ''

jarana A jarana is a guitar-like string instrument from Mexico. There are different regional versions of the jarana, notably: * Jarana huasteca, string instrument of the Huastec region, Mexico * Jarana jarocha, string instrument of Veracruz, Mexico * Ja ...

'', sings, and plays harmonica on "Buscapies." Rubí Oseguera, who relocated to Mexico City from Minatitlán, is widely admired among jaranero revivalists as a model of traditional ''jarocho'' dance style; her footwork (''zapateado'') adds a percussive cadence to some of the band's performances. Los Angeles-based Mexican American Juan Pérez plays electric bass, adding a contemporary touch to the group’s sound. Several guest artists, all long-time associates of Son de Madera, add sounds and sensibilities of both the avant-garde and the "rear guard" of ''

'' performance. ''Guitarra de son'' player

Andrés Vega Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

(b. 1932), Tereso’s father, is widely revered as a fountainhead of the rural ''son'' tradition. Patricio Hidalgo Belli, grandson of

Arcadio Hidalgo Arcadio is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * José Arcadio Buendía, fictional patriarch in the novel ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez *Arcadio Arellano (1872–1920), notable archi ...

, plies his talents for singing improvised poetry. Natalia Arroyo Rodríguez, violinist, and Rubén Vásquez Domínguez, ''arpa jarocha'' player, performed about a dozen times with the band at the

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...

in 2009. Son de Madera has long been at the forefront of a musical revival and revitalization, drawing from sounds, styles, and musicians that remain at the margins of the more commercialized ''son jarocho'' while incorporating new sounds and stylistic perspectives.

Discography

Studio albums * 1996: ''Son de madera'' (CD) * 2004: ''Las Orquestas Del Día'' (CD) * 2009: ''Son de Mi Tierra'' (CD) * 2009: ''Mexico Son de Madera'' (CD) * 2014: ''Caribe Mar Sincopado' (CD) Live albums * 2013: ''Concierto en Vivo, Glatt & Verkehrt - Viena, Austria' (CD)

References

*''The 2009 Symposium Festival: Giving Voice'' ',''''Las Américas'' ',''''Wales.'' Festival program. Washington, DC: Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution. ISSN 1056-6805.
Son de Madera Discography at Smithsonian Folkways
{{Authority control Mexican musical groups Culture of Veracruz Jarocho