Hold on to your hat, Grandma, and turn down Granddad's hearing aid! We're slappin' the new El Recodo CD, Contigo Por Siempre, in the stereo, so get ready for hyperspace!

If you don't know what banda sounds like, that opening tuba blast in Y Llegaste Tu is guaranteed to clue you in!

To some folks, that blast might be a rude awakening to the glorious brassy sound of one of Mexico's most interesting musical genres -- there's nothing like it in the U.S. There used to be, but not any more. Big band sounds died 50 years ago and the U.S. recording community has somehow managed to forget a huge range of instruments and sounds, impoverishing all of us to a slum of dull, predictable guitar-based rock and pop and country, the boundaries of which are all a bit blurry sometimes. Sorry guys, but I like hearing a rich mix of sounds, which is one of the big reasons I switched most of my listening to latin music a few years back...banda is one of the payoffs!

Pick It Up...
Y Llegaste Tu was a big hit on latin radio stations and it really surprised me when I saw it show up on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks list a few weeks ago because I always thought El Recodo would appeal to a fairly limited market due to their very strong regional sound and the fact that their stuff is pura banda. I don't usually think of the banda genre as having a huge following outside the state of Sinaloa. But a following they have, and songs like Y Llegaste Tu shows why they do.

I love the almost literary allusions that creep into the lyrics on Y Llegaste Tu, especially the way that the seasons of the year are used as metaphors for the moods of the heart. Y llegaste tu, como primavera, en el frio invierno a mi corazon... Intelligent and romantic -- can't ask for anything more than that!

It's kind of strange to me to think of big band sounds in the same breath as modern music, but El Recodo is every bit as modern as their sound is big. A lot of their stuff appeals to a very young audience -- an audience that wants to be dancing in the beach clubs of Mazatlan all night long...and no song proves this more than La Chiquilla.

Crank it! La Chiquilla rocks the house! I just love the silly, nothing-serious lyrics that essentially say "come on pretty girl, let's get out on the dance floor and jam to the luscious sounds of el Recodo, the party's just getting started!". I love the "whoo whoo" sounds, I love the staccato trumpet blasts, I love the smooth shifts in tempo and tone. Definitely the hottest track on this CD!

La Chiquilla instantly transports me to Club Extasis in Mazatlan. It's 3 in the morning and the party is just getting warmed up. As soon as I hear the Whoo Whoo sounds of La Chiquilla, my big old gringo butt starts swaying, my bottle of Pacifico finds its way to the table, and I'm out on the floor trying my hands and feet at dancing la quebradita... Whoo whoo!!! Vamos chiquilla linda, baila este ritmo lindo que esta sonando, tienes que poner ambiente que aun la fiesta esta comenzando. Whew! Ya me canse!

Pero No Me Quieres is another super fast-paced hot dance tune that's guaranteed to get people out on the dance floor. I also like the faintly haunting sound of Tu No Eres Facil de Querer which really succeeds as a dance tune, but also tugs at your heartstrings with its lyrics of uncertain love. I think we've all known someone who we want to love, but who just makes loving a very tough proposition -- we don't know whether to love them or kill them, and that's the gist of Tu No Eres Facil de Querer.

One song that I find kind of fascinating is Contigo Por Siempre, mostly because its one of the few songs that really shines the spotlight on the vocal talents of their two singers. Whereas its the bright brass of the band that dominates most of the CD, this song is a bit more subdued with passages of only vocals and the softer, less strident clarinet accompaniment. Very nice change of pace!

Wind It Down...
Do you think a song with a powerful underlying tuba rhythym and bright trumpet sound is going to be a slow romantic ballad? Think again -- Quiesiera Ser somehow manages to pull it off. The lyrics are predicatably sappy, but it's probably a good tune for romancing some of those hot muchachas sinaloenses...

There's a few other slow-dance tunes on the CD too. Songs like Te Equivocaste and Como Pudiste don't really do a whole lot for me so I'll just hit the "Skip" button, if you don't mind...

Respect for the Masters...
In every region and in every industry there are leaders and there are followers and imitators. In the world of latin music, El Recodo stands head and shoulders above all other banda groups and artists. Nobody can seriously dispute that these guys are the kings of banda!

The band got its start some 70 years ago -- back in the 1930s -- an era when big bands were every bit as popular in the United States as they were elsewhere in the world. I've heard it said that northern Mexico and south Texas picked up a lot of their band influences as well as their uses of instruments like the tuba, accordian, and the like from Germans, who evidently settled in the region in large numbers. I'd believe it because the banda groups often show polka influences and sounds that are similar to those of traditional German oom-pah music.

Sadly, pop trends and the economics of supporting big bands dictated the demise of some of our nation's greatest pop bands. Pop bands live in other countries though, and in Mexico, they've concentrated themselves in the northwest in the state of Sinaloa. I think the reason they're concentrated there is because El Recodo is big enough to drag all of them along...that's my theory anyway.

Banda El Recodo was founded by musical master Don Cruz Lizarraga, who passed away in 1995. Today, German Lizarraga continues the family tradition as band leader of the 17 musicians who make up the group: four clarinets, two singers, two french horns, one tuba, three trumpets, three trombones, two drummers. Note the lack of guitars and keyboards? What a brave new world to have such bands in it! Not every group in the world has to sound like everyone else...

Interactivo
Cool! This album is actually designed to exploit multimedia features when used in a PC or Macintosh. Very refreshing in an era when some record labels want to adopt technology that will render the CD unreadable or distorted when used in PC CD players and in some types of standard stereo components. Slide this puppy into your PC's CD slot and instead of just calling your CD player utility, up pops a menu where you can choose to watch Quicktime videos or see photos of the band members, not to mention being able to listen to the tunes...

Well done! What a shame more bands and labels don't learn to embrace technology instead of fighting it...

Contigo Por Siempre
Banda music is probably not going to be a sound that you love the first time you hear it. It will probably be something that you grow to appreciate, like many of life's finest pleasures. I'm glad that I endured long enough to develop an appreciation of the many variations of the genre and to be exposed to groups like El Recodo -- a band with a proud tradition, yet a band that can somehow sound every bit as fresh and modern as the current teen hit du jour, but better.

I wholeheartedly recommend El Recodo's Contigo Por Siempre to anyone who appreciates band music and who would like a little taste of one of the hottest musical flavors of Mexico's Pacific Coast.

See ya in the club!




Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends