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Latin Mandolin

Sergio Lara

Many people, when they hear Hispanic acoustic guitar and mandolin, automatically use the term flamenco, although there are many other styles within the world of Spanish guitar and mandolin. Each country in the Hispanic world, which includes Spain and Latin America, has different styles.

As a Mexican native, I was exposed to many Latin, Afro-Latin and Spanish styles very early on. I grew up with those sounds, starting with the guitar, but then I discovered "Bluegrass" music and became fascinated with the sound of the mandolin. I began to focus on mandolin playing. I have always been a strong admirer of bluegrass mandolin players, and Bill Monroe's contribution to the world of mandolin playing is, well...legendary. He has also inspired a whole school of players including Sam Bush, David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, Roland White and many other wonderful players and they have also inspired me.

Flamenco and Latin music are very passionate forms, very rhythmic and at the same time, they demand a lot of virtuosity on your instrument.

Latin music has a huge amount of African influences. All Latin American music in the Caribbean area does. The music I heard as a kid was very much Afro-Latin oriented, Merengue, Mambo, Salsa, Son. That was mostly what I grew up with.

Throughout my career, I have adapted many traditional Mexican folk tunes to the mandolin. One of my favorites is La Llorona (The Weeping Woman).

Leyends and traditions have always played an important part in the history and culture of Mexico. Often they are a mix of history and imagination, a kind of imaginative vision of real events whose origins have been lost and can sometimes seem even more real than reality itself. They are kept alive by oral tradition, which explains why many times several versions are floating around. Most Mexican legends are several centuries old; some dating back to pre-Columbian times while others were born in the colonial period. The classic legend of La Llorona is a very popular one, which for more than three centuries was instilled in the memory of the citizens of Mexico City. It has its roots in Aztec mythology and dates back to the time of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. The legend tells us that the goddess "Cihuacoatl" appeared in the city of Tenochtitlan at night as a woman dressed in white, accompanied by deadly omens which foretold the conquest of Mexico. One night, her voice was heard, weeping loudly: "Oh, my poor children, their destruction has arrived, for we must soon depart!" Other times the voice would cry in desperation: "My children, where shall I take you? Where could I hide you?" This was interpreted as an omen for the fall of the Aztec Empire.

Soon after the arrival of the Spaniards to the American continent, the Aztec Empire of Tenochtitlan was conquered. The Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes was aided immensely by Doña Marina, better known as "La Malinche". Now, some say that La Llorona is La Malinche, mistress of Cortes, endlessly lamenting her betrayal of her own Indian people to the Spaniards.

Cortes and La Malinche had a son, but after the Conquest, Cortes went back to his wife in Spain. The legend tells us that they had twins... One day a beautiful Spanish lady convinces Cortes to return to Spain with his two sons. When La Malinche finds out about his plans to leave her and taking the children with him, she escapes with the babies. Soon Cortes and his men set out to find them. They are able to surround her at the lake that Mexico City now rests on, but when they try to capture her, she pulls out a dagger, stabs her babies in the heart and drops their lifeless bodies into the water... Up to the time of her death she was seen and heard near the lake weeping and wailing for her children, which was why she was given the name "la Llorona". As time went by, the legend grew. In Mexico City, in the middle of the sixteenth century, the inhabitants claimed that they could hear the cries of a woman afflicted with terrible grief. Some even claimed that they could actually see her at midnight on nights during a full moon, wandering the streets wearing a white dress with a thick veil covering her face. Her agonizing cries would terrorize everyone who sees or hears her. It was told that each night she would stroll different areas of the city, but would always end up at "La Plaza Mayor", known today as the capital's "zocalo". There, each night, she would let out her last, most desperate and horrific moan before vanishing into the lake.

Even now, if you walk alone in the dead of night, you might happen to see, or at least hear La Llorona´s sobbing and screaming. And beware, she has been searching for so long, and she is so desperate... If she happens to find you there by the side of a canal, she might just mistake you for one of her children and drag you into the watery black depths, and you will be hers forever...

La Llorona is in a Huapango rhythm, which is a Mexican Huasteco son in 6/8 time. It comes from traditional Spanish music, and its foundation is the Spanish Fandango, playing it rhythmically.

There are many unique variations and improvisations. Generally it is danced on a wooden platform or tablao, and the idea is that the rhythm is set by the dancers, where the Spanish joy comes through in its influence in Mexican music,even maintaining the original names: MALAGUEÑA, PETENERA, RONDEÑA, etc.where this Mexican style was born. The best Huapango son can be heard, According to the experts, in the North of the Huasteca region in Mexico.

My version of "La Llorona" can be heard on Con la Lluvia (Fusion Acustica Music 001-2004) my most recent recording. Please visit www.sergiolara.com and contact me with your questions and comments.

About Sergio Lara

Sergio Lara plays a 1980 Gibson F-5L mandolin, uses Gibson Monel Steel strings and the round side of a Fender Heavy pick. For over 20 years, Sergio has been respected and considered as one of the best artists in acoustic contemporary instrumental music. His last recording with the well-known Latin guitar duo Lara & Reyes, "World Jazz", received a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Instrumental Pop Album in 2001. His music belongs to what is known as Latin Jazz and Flamenco Jazz, which falls under the category of Contemporary Instrumental Music and World Music.