WOMAD

Los Cojolites

From Mexico

Biography by Andy Morgan, July 2002:Mexico’s Vera Cruz province, on the shores of the Caribbean, was a quiet steamy little backwater of fields and villages before someone struck oil in the early part of last century and changed everything. The ‘Son Jarocho’, a revered folk music made from a mish mash of Spanish, African and indigenous American ingredients had long animated the fiestas and fandangos of Vera Cruz but the oil boom well nigh killed it off, just as it did many of the area’s age old customs and traditions. When the oil ran out the region fell on hard times. A few years ago a group of young people got together in the refinery town of Cosoleacaque to revive the Son Jarocho by means of various youth projects and workshops, with the aim of reinjecting a little dignity and cultural pride back into the area. One of these projects became Los Cojolites, a group named after a pheasant like bird known for the beauty and length of its wake-up call. Founder members like Noé Molina, Luis Aldo and Ricardo Guillén soon found that the age-old Son Jarocho had a peculiar attraction for their own baseball cap wearing, break beat dancing peer group and Los Cojolites soon became very popular. It was always a family affair, with grandparents, uncles, aunties, fathers and mothers passing on what they remembered of the old son songs and melodies to their eager offspring. Son Jarocho is now and has always been community music, best heard hot and unrestrained at neighbourhood fiestas and fandangos, with the spirits flowing free and the dancers going loco. For a long time the people of Vera Cruz forgot about the cultural jewel which they cradled innocently in their midst. Now Los Cojolites and others have put the Son Jarocho back on the map and the future can be faced with hope and pride.Young group who are re-discovering and celebrating the endangered ‘Son Jaracho’ traditional music of Veracruz – lively and joyful music with elements of Spanish, African and indigenous Mexican.