Muziekpublique

Courses overview

Son Jarocho

Israel Alonso

MABO - Lycée Maria-Boodschap - Rue de la Braie 22, 1000 Bruxelles

This course aims to collectively play the repertoire of the Son Jarocho. Many different instruments can therefore join this ensemble, provided you have a basic knowledge of your instrument.

This genre is typical from the villages of Veracruz, a farming region of East Mexico. The Son Jarocho is a popular music played during weddings, harvesting fests or funerals. Its roots lie in the Caribbean, Spanish and Afro-Cuban music, which gives the genre its rich colour. The origins of the Son Jarocho are also closely linked to the harbour of Veracruz, a cultural crossroad that lived from the slave trade from Africa.

The Son Jarocho is mainly played with string instruments such as guitars, violins or harps, although sometimes some percussions are added to the composition. This traditional music is still vivid, as it has been transmitted from musician to musician and is still very much anchored in the Mexican culture. The most famous song, “La Bamba”, ensured that the Son Jarocho has a place in every party in the whole world.

Israel Alonso

Israel Alonso is a musician of Mexican origin who lives and works in Brussels. Active in various ensembles, he builds bridges between traditional South-American genres and contemporary musical influences he picks up in Brussels. He is also one of the initiators of the festivities around ‘Dia de Muertos in les Marolles’.

Israel is barely twenty when he first leaves his hometown of Mexico City to tour Europe. With the traditional Mexican music group “Tonalli Ambar” he visits Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium. His suitcase contains string instruments (guitar, guitarrón, jarana, vihuela), wind instruments (saxophone, flute) and a marimba.

Besides playing and writing music, Israel also teaches traditional Mexican music, music theory and singing. He starts up several groups in Mexico: Onírisonante (2008), a company for street theatre and music, and SonÓsfera (2015), a jazz-fusion group that juggles with different traditional Mexican music genres and with which he tours Spain and France. Once settled in Brussels, he and French flute-player Sylvain Boisvert set up the quartet 4Cascabel (violin, guitar, saxophone and double bass), specializing in ‘Son Jarocho’.