Sones de Mexico bringing signature folk music to special Day of the Dead concert
A group started in 1994 by two immigrant musicians has become a staple of Mexican culture and music in the city.Sones de Mexico, a five-person Mexican folk ensemble formed and based in Chicago, specializes in son mexicano, a type of music that encompasses several regional genres. Sones is celebrating 30 years of music with an interactive concert this week to celebrate Day of the Dead, or Día de Muertos. Attendees are encouraged to bring photographs and mementos to the upcoming concert at Dominican University, where they'll be included on a large ofrenda (altar) built for the performance. Day of the Dead concert Sones de Mexico Day of the Dead ConcertWhen: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25Where: Dominican University Performing Arts Center, 7900 W. Division St., River ForestTickets: $20-$29Info: sonesdemexico.com Though the holiday is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, the days leading up to it are full of preparation. Photos of loved ones are placed on the ofrenda alongside flowers, candles and other items or offerings — like an uncle's favorite brand of cigarettes or abuela's preferred coffee beans."I'm looking forward to playing inside an altar," something the group has never done before, Sones co-founder Juan Dies told the Sun-Times during an interview at his home in Lincoln Square. "I would encourage the audience to participate in that. Bring however small a piece. You could retrieve it at the end and get it back ... I'm looking forward to that component," he said.When Dies and Victor Pichardo established Sones de Mexico in 1994, they originally came together because of Pichardo's desire to create a band like the ones he'd been a part of in Mexico. Dies, working at the Old Town School of Folk Music at the time, began practicing with Pichardo and two others they'd met through the local music and dance scene. Juan Díes, founding member of Sones de Mexico Ensemble, plays a guitarrón in his home in Lincoln Square.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times "The four of us came together for a rehearsal and started practicing," Dies said. "And we were all very motivated. We loved the music immediately."In 2006, Pichardo's son Zacbé joined the ensemble after his father asked him to play harp for a special concert at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., after another harpist suddenly quit. (In addition to Dies and Zacbé, the ensemble also currently features Lorena Iñiguez, Eric Hines and Irekani Ferreyra.)"I had never played a harp ever in my whole life," Zacbé said. "[My dad] kind of just put my hand on it and said, 'OK, this is how you start.'"Music has always been a part of Zacbé's life. When he was in his mother's womb, he said, she'd go on tour with Victor and attend all his rehearsals. Zacbé Pichardo, a member of the Sones de Mexico Ensemble, plays a huapanguera.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times "I wasn't really playing music until about until when I turned 5," Zacbé said. "It kind of defined the rest of my life."Ensemble members are skilled in more than 70 classical and Mexican folk instruments, including various guitars and jaranas — typically eight-stringed instruments used in son music. There are also wind instruments like the flute and clarinet, Aztec-inspired drums, and a slit drum called the teponaztli, typically in the shape of an animal. Dies' is a cute, multicolored caterpillar with antennae that double as mallets. Several of the ensemble members are also educators. Their music school, The Mexican Music School by Sones de Mexico Ensemble, which opened in 2014, offers classes for families and individuals of all ages in Pilsen, Little Village and Rogers Park, and via Zoom. Their success led to the release of their first album, "Fandango on 18th Street," in 2002.Dies fondly remembers when that album was released because the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen hosted the release party.
A group started in 1994 by two immigrant musicians has become a staple of Mexican culture and music in the city.
Sones de Mexico, a five-person Mexican folk ensemble formed and based in Chicago, specializes in son mexicano, a type of music that encompasses several regional genres. Sones is celebrating 30 years of music with an interactive concert this week to celebrate Day of the Dead, or Día de Muertos. Attendees are encouraged to bring photographs and mementos to the upcoming concert at Dominican University, where they'll be included on a large ofrenda (altar) built for the performance.
Though the holiday is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, the days leading up to it are full of preparation. Photos of loved ones are placed on the ofrenda alongside flowers, candles and other items or offerings — like an uncle's favorite brand of cigarettes or abuela's preferred coffee beans.
"I'm looking forward to playing inside an altar," something the group has never done before, Sones co-founder Juan Dies told the Sun-Times during an interview at his home in Lincoln Square. "I would encourage the audience to participate in that. Bring however small a piece. You could retrieve it at the end and get it back ... I'm looking forward to that component," he said.
When Dies and Victor Pichardo established Sones de Mexico in 1994, they originally came together because of Pichardo's desire to create a band like the ones he'd been a part of in Mexico. Dies, working at the Old Town School of Folk Music at the time, began practicing with Pichardo and two others they'd met through the local music and dance scene.
"The four of us came together for a rehearsal and started practicing," Dies said. "And we were all very motivated. We loved the music immediately."
In 2006, Pichardo's son Zacbé joined the ensemble after his father asked him to play harp for a special concert at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., after another harpist suddenly quit. (In addition to Dies and Zacbé, the ensemble also currently features Lorena Iñiguez, Eric Hines and Irekani Ferreyra.)
"I had never played a harp ever in my whole life," Zacbé said. "[My dad] kind of just put my hand on it and said, 'OK, this is how you start.'"
Music has always been a part of Zacbé's life. When he was in his mother's womb, he said, she'd go on tour with Victor and attend all his rehearsals.
"I wasn't really playing music until about until when I turned 5," Zacbé said. "It kind of defined the rest of my life."
Ensemble members are skilled in more than 70 classical and Mexican folk instruments, including various guitars and jaranas — typically eight-stringed instruments used in son music. There are also wind instruments like the flute and clarinet, Aztec-inspired drums, and a slit drum called the teponaztli, typically in the shape of an animal. Dies' is a cute, multicolored caterpillar with antennae that double as mallets.
Several of the ensemble members are also educators. Their music school, The Mexican Music School by Sones de Mexico Ensemble, which opened in 2014, offers classes for families and individuals of all ages in Pilsen, Little Village and Rogers Park, and via Zoom. Their success led to the release of their first album, "Fandango on 18th Street," in 2002.
Dies fondly remembers when that album was released because the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen hosted the release party.
"It was the largest audience they had ever gotten. The director of the museum was standing at the door turning people away," Dies said. "It was a surprise to us to get that kind of response."
In each of their four albums, they've included interpretations of lots of different types of music, something that probably wouldn't have happened in Mexico, Dies said.
"We wouldn't have run across those experiences, but we wanted to document them," he added.
Sones' song "Green Dolphin Street" (inspired by the iconic 1930s song of the same name) was composed after the group was invited to be a part of the 2002 movie "Israel in Exile," about a Mexican boxer, filmed at the popular and now permanently closed Green Dolphin Street nightclub in Chicago.
"I thought, 'Why don't we make a Mexican version of that jazz standard as a Mexican dance?' " Dies said.
The musicians sprinkled the familiar tune with elements of gusto and Western Mexican sounds for that movie scene and included it years later on their 2013 and most recent album, "13 Baktun."
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