Enrique R. Lamadrid

In this poignant bilingual collection, preeminent New Mexican poet E. A. "Tony" Mares posthumously shares his passionate journey into the broken heart and glimmering shadows of the Spanish Civil War, whose shock waves still resonate with the political upheavals of our own times. Mares engages in dialogue with heroes and demons, anarchists and cardinals, and beggars and poets. He takes us through the convex mirror of history to the blood-stained streets of Madrid, Guernica, and Barcelona. He interrogates the assassins of Federico García Lorca for their crimes against poetry and humanity. Throughout the collection the narrator is participant and commentator, and his language is both lyrical and direct. In addition to Mares's parallel Spanish and English poems, the book includes a prologue by Enrique Lamadrid, an introduction by Fernando Martín Pescador, and an epilogue by Susana Rivera. Lovingly shepherded and completed by friends and family, this book will appeal to Mares enthusiasts and readers interested in poetry and history, who will be glad to have this unexpected gift from a master's voice.

Sisters in Blue tells the story of two young women—one Spanish, one Puebloan—meeting across space and time. Sor María de Jesús de Ágreda, New Mexico’s famous Lady in Blue, is said to have traveled to New Mexico in the seventeenth century. Here Anna M. Nogar and Enrique R. Lamadrid bring her to life, imagining an encounter between a Pueblo woman and Sor María during the nun’s mystical spiritual journeys. Tales of Sor María, who described traveling across the earth and the heavens, have traditionally presented her as an evangelist who helped bring Catholicism to the Pueblos. Instead this book, which includes an essay providing historical context, shows a connection between Sor María and her friend Paf Sheuri. The two women find more similarities than differences in their shared experiences, and what they learn from each other has an impact for centuries to come.

Cipriano Frederico Vigil is the most important performer of traditional Nuevomexicano folk music in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This bilingual panoramic book presents the songs that are his life’s work, spanning half a century of listening, playing, composing, and singing ritual, social, and dance music. New Mexican Folk Music includes much traditional material that has never been seen before or studied by scholars or students. Renowned as a composer, Vigil works in traditional genres such as the romance, the décima, the cuando, and corrido. Like the Mexican group Los Folkloristas with which he apprenticed in the late 1970s, his goal has been to research and master local styles, to introduce new listeners to traditional music, and to build on tradition by creating new compositions that address contemporary social themes. An audio CD accompanies this comprehensive study on the work and music of Cipriano Frederico Vigil.

In Boyle Heights, gateway to East Los Angeles, sits the 1889 landmark “Hotel Mariachi,” where musicians have lived and gathered on the adjacent plaza for more than half a century. This book is a photographic and ethnographic study of the mariachis, Mariachi Plaza de Los Angeles, and the neighborhood. The newly restored brick hotel embodies a triumphant struggle of preservation against all odds, and its origins open a portal into the Mexican pueblo’s centuries-old multiethnic past. Miguel Gandert’s compelling black-and-white images document the hotel and the vibrant mariachi community of the “Garibaldi Plaza of Los Angeles.” The history of Hotel Mariachi is personal to Catherine López Kurland, a descendant of the entrepreneur who built it, and whose family’s Californio roots will fascinate anyone interested in early Los Angeles or Mexican American history. Enrique Lamadrid explores mariachi music, poetry, and fiestas, and the part Los Angeles played in their development, delving into the origins of the music and offering a deep account of mariachi poetics. Hotel Mariachi is a unique lens through which to view the history and culture of Mexicano California, and provides touching insights into the challenging lives of mariachi musicians.

In this book, award-winning photographer Miguel Gandert records the sacred rituals and dances of the mestizo peoples of the upper Rio Grande in 130 exquisite black-and-white photographs. Included are images of the two great Indo-Hispano regional traditions, the Matachines conquest dance drama, complete with monsters and bull, and the multifaceted Comanches celebration, with its equestrian victory play and boisterous dances. The image and story of Our Lady of Guadalupe are in evidence everywhere in a sacred landscape criss-crossed with procession and pilgrimage. Four essays provide the background for viewing Gandert's work. Enrique R Lamadrid presents the folkloric context for the rituals and dances, tracing the mixture of Indian and Hispanic elements in the public celebrations performed today in towns and villages all along the Rio Grande. Ramon A Gutierrez examines how the Rio Grande culture travelled up and down the river, defying international borders. Lucy R Lippard discusses the social relations among participants in Gandert's photographs-the subjects, the viewers, and the photographer himself. Chris Wilson provides biographical information on Gandert and traces the development of his aesthetic.

A companion set of audio compact discs to the text collecting examples of the musical forms used over the centuries in this often isolated and harsh but beautiful region of the Rio Rande. A blend of religious and secular music from sixteenth-century Spain, Mexican-influenced folk tunes, and melodies indigenous to the life of the region, the music covered here includes romances, trovos, cuandos and decimas, inditas, corridos, canciones, ceremonial and religious music, and dance music.

This long-awaited book vividly documents the folk music of El Río Grande del Norte, an area extending from the Mexican border on the south to Southern Colorado on the north and from the Great Plains on the east to the Continental Divide on the West. Loeffler has collected examples of the musical forms used over the centuries in this often isolated and harsh but beautiful region. A blend of religious and secular music from sixteenth-century Spain, Mexican-influenced folk tunes, and melodies indigenous to the life of the region, the music covered here includes romances, trovos, cuandos and decimas, inditas, corridos, canciónes, ceremonial and religious music, and dance music. Each song appears both in Spanish and English. For many, transcriptions of the musical notations are provided as well as graphic illustrations of dance technique. A companion set of compact discs is also available. Photographs and biographies of active folk musicians help complete the record of this rich and enduring musical tradition.