Regis University’s Claver Recital Hall is a new and popular venue for all types of performers. Recently the department of Fine and Performing Arts has hosted Robert Gupta, the American Recorder Society, and pop performer Svet in this wooden-walled music chamber. This past Wednesday, October 29th, Regis welcomed Dr. Lorenzo Trujillo and the Southwest Musicians to give a 7:30 pm performance for their last Guest Artist Series concert of the Fall 2014 season and were welcomed by students, elderly patrons, and parents with children. The Music Department at Regis University programs these events in order to expose Regis Students and their community to a diverse variety of music and performance. Dr. Trujillo and his compadres turned the Claver Recital Hall into a slice of the Southwest for a festive evening of performances and stories of the past.
Dr. Lorenzo Trujillo is a folk violinist, guitarist, vocalist and ethnic dancer whose life’s work is the preservation and celebration of the music of Southern Colorado and New Mexico. He has earned many awards and grants, such as induction into the Colorado Chicano Music Hall of Fame and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2004 he was given the Hilos Culturales Distinguished Traditional Folk Artist Premio for his “lifetime contributions to traditional Hispanic traditions of Southern Colorado and New Mexico.” He has given thousands of concerts and lectures. He is extensively published on traditional music and dance of the Southwest United States, art which is older than the state lines of Colorado and New Mexico.
His love for these old-time Hispanic dance tunes was handed down to him from his parents, just as all the music they play was passed along through oral tradition. The Southwest Musicians started in 1976 with himself, his father, his aunt, and his mother who directed the dancers. As the older generation retired Dr. Trujillo brought in new members, individuals who have roots in New Mexico and Southern Colorado. The group has performed in many esteemed venues, such as the Chicano Music Festival, the Spanish Market, Taos City Auditorium, and Denver Civic theater. On guitar and vocals were Benjamin Alires and Dr. Trujillo’s cousins, William and John Archuleta. Dr. Trujillo sang as well and played violin with Catherine Skokan and Larry Edelman. Scott Mathis was on the mandolin, occasionally joined by Edelman. Robert Kilmek played the piano and harpsichord. Ellen Alires-Trujillo danced with Dr. Trujillo, providing a glimpse of traditional Chicano dance. Throughout the evening, Dr. Trujillo would tell the stories behind the music, translate lyrics, and explain certain traditions. He engaged the audience with a contagious enthusiasm; sing-alongs were had, laughter was plentiful, and there was even a mock wedding celebration. Their title for the concert was “Tales of Love, Loss, and Deception through Music of the Ages,” and their fourth song, “Son Los Años Compadre,” was demonstrative of not only their theme but of Southwestern folk music’s signature style.
Humor is often used to sugar-coat discussions of the hard things in life, like growing older. Cesar Suedan did exactly that in writing “Son Los Años Compadre,” a song about aging and the unpleasantries of the body’s deterioration. “This song tells about…needing glasses to see, airplanes to go places, and falling asleep,” writes Dr. Trujillo. In one of the verses he sings about wanting to dance with the pretty girls but his back aches too much to catch up with them. The performance of this and the rest of the concert appeared, at first listen, unprofessional; the band seemed poorly rehearsed, rhythmically loose, and explicitly chose not to tune their instruments before they began. But after considering the style and origin of the music, it seemed appropriate. These Chicano folksongs are widely known, and it would be common for an informal ensemble to play them. In addition, the audience would likely be friends, neighbors, and family members. Therefore the authentic realization of this song would sound imperfect since quality of instrumental performance would be less important than facilitating everyone singing. For this song, Kilmek was on the piano and Edelman on the violin. Dr. Trujillo was playing a modern violin, as opposed to the baroque violin which he played on multiple other pieces.
This piece, structurally, is reflective of most Southwestern folk music. The form of this strophic song is A A’ B. A consists of two rhyming lines of verse, with tonic and dominant chord harmonization. A’ is, of course, nearly the same. Instead of going to the dominant for the second line, the subdominant chord is played, followed by the tonic, the dominant and the tonic again as the chorus arrives. B is the chorus, sung twice with only the last note of the phrase differing. The harmonization is simply four counts of the dominant followed by four counts of the tonic, repeated four times. Strangely, this and many Chicano songs seem rhythmically unbalanced. This is due to meter changes within the A and A’ sections. The four-measure melody, after a one beat pickup, travels through two bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and a final bar of 5/4. This explains the feeling of anticipation one gets when listening.
The group was truly organized and familiar with their music, mostly because these individuals grew up with these songs. Consequently each knew his or her place within the homophony of the accompaniment. The bass played roots and fifths on the quarter note beats, while the guitars used downstrokes on the eighth notes and accented the upbeats. For the intro, the violins played the melody, harmonizing in thirds. Dr Trujillo sang this song, and as he sang he acted out the lyrics in humorous pantomime. He stopped once to translate the lyrics he was about to sing while the band vamped on the tonic chord. He encouraged the audience to sing the chorus, and had it printed in the program notes: “Son los años compadre, son los años, son los años que empiezan a cargar,” which he translates to “These are the years, compadre, that are beginning to burden.”
The burdens of everyday life are alleviated and survived through music, and thanks to Lorenzo Trujillo and the Southwest Musicians the audience departed in high spirits. In the second half the program the well-known “Cielito Lindo” was sung by all in attendance. The evening ended with a popular Mexican song, “Volver, Volver,” a song of goodbye but not farewell, because the message is “I will return.” It would be a delight to see Lorenzo Trujillo and the Southwest Musicians at the Claver Recital Hall once more, and if the fates allow they will return with a new set of stories to tell in song.
His love for these old-time Hispanic dance tunes was handed down to him from his parents, just as all the music they play was passed along through oral tradition. The Southwest Musicians started in 1976 with himself, his father, his aunt, and his mother who directed the dancers. As the older generation retired Dr. Trujillo brought in new members, individuals who have roots in New Mexico and Southern Colorado. The group has performed in many esteemed venues, such as the Chicano Music Festival, the Spanish Market, Taos City Auditorium, and Denver Civic theater. On guitar and vocals were Benjamin Alires and Dr. Trujillo’s cousins, William and John Archuleta. Dr. Trujillo sang as well and played violin with Catherine Skokan and Larry Edelman. Scott Mathis was on the mandolin, occasionally joined by Edelman. Robert Kilmek played the piano and harpsichord. Ellen Alires-Trujillo danced with Dr. Trujillo, providing a glimpse of traditional Chicano dance. Throughout the evening, Dr. Trujillo would tell the stories behind the music, translate lyrics, and explain certain traditions. He engaged the audience with a contagious enthusiasm; sing-alongs were had, laughter was plentiful, and there was even a mock wedding celebration. Their title for the concert was “Tales of Love, Loss, and Deception through Music of the Ages,” and their fourth song, “Son Los Años Compadre,” was demonstrative of not only their theme but of Southwestern folk music’s signature style.
Humor is often used to sugar-coat discussions of the hard things in life, like growing older. Cesar Suedan did exactly that in writing “Son Los Años Compadre,” a song about aging and the unpleasantries of the body’s deterioration. “This song tells about…needing glasses to see, airplanes to go places, and falling asleep,” writes Dr. Trujillo. In one of the verses he sings about wanting to dance with the pretty girls but his back aches too much to catch up with them. The performance of this and the rest of the concert appeared, at first listen, unprofessional; the band seemed poorly rehearsed, rhythmically loose, and explicitly chose not to tune their instruments before they began. But after considering the style and origin of the music, it seemed appropriate. These Chicano folksongs are widely known, and it would be common for an informal ensemble to play them. In addition, the audience would likely be friends, neighbors, and family members. Therefore the authentic realization of this song would sound imperfect since quality of instrumental performance would be less important than facilitating everyone singing. For this song, Kilmek was on the piano and Edelman on the violin. Dr. Trujillo was playing a modern violin, as opposed to the baroque violin which he played on multiple other pieces.
This piece, structurally, is reflective of most Southwestern folk music. The form of this strophic song is A A’ B. A consists of two rhyming lines of verse, with tonic and dominant chord harmonization. A’ is, of course, nearly the same. Instead of going to the dominant for the second line, the subdominant chord is played, followed by the tonic, the dominant and the tonic again as the chorus arrives. B is the chorus, sung twice with only the last note of the phrase differing. The harmonization is simply four counts of the dominant followed by four counts of the tonic, repeated four times. Strangely, this and many Chicano songs seem rhythmically unbalanced. This is due to meter changes within the A and A’ sections. The four-measure melody, after a one beat pickup, travels through two bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and a final bar of 5/4. This explains the feeling of anticipation one gets when listening.
The group was truly organized and familiar with their music, mostly because these individuals grew up with these songs. Consequently each knew his or her place within the homophony of the accompaniment. The bass played roots and fifths on the quarter note beats, while the guitars used downstrokes on the eighth notes and accented the upbeats. For the intro, the violins played the melody, harmonizing in thirds. Dr Trujillo sang this song, and as he sang he acted out the lyrics in humorous pantomime. He stopped once to translate the lyrics he was about to sing while the band vamped on the tonic chord. He encouraged the audience to sing the chorus, and had it printed in the program notes: “Son los años compadre, son los años, son los años que empiezan a cargar,” which he translates to “These are the years, compadre, that are beginning to burden.”
The burdens of everyday life are alleviated and survived through music, and thanks to Lorenzo Trujillo and the Southwest Musicians the audience departed in high spirits. In the second half the program the well-known “Cielito Lindo” was sung by all in attendance. The evening ended with a popular Mexican song, “Volver, Volver,” a song of goodbye but not farewell, because the message is “I will return.” It would be a delight to see Lorenzo Trujillo and the Southwest Musicians at the Claver Recital Hall once more, and if the fates allow they will return with a new set of stories to tell in song.