Various – Bandas Sinaloenses – Music Tambora

Historic recordings of the exhilarating brass band music from the remote state of Sinaloa on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This music is no staid oom-pah music, but fast, churning party music, full of intricate rhythms, complex harmonies, and bright, brassy timbres.

Track Listing:
1. El Sinaloense - Banda Los Guamuchilenos De Culiacan - 2:44   2. Viva Mi Desgracia - Banda Los Guamuchilenos De Culiacan - 3:01   3. El Guango - Banda Los Guamuchilenos De Culiacan - 2:27   4. Ingrato Dolor - Banda Los Guamuchilenos De Culiacan - 3:07   5. Culiacan - Banda Los Guamuchilenos De Culiacan - 2:59   6. La India Bonita - Banda Tipica De Mazatlan - 2:59   7. Arriba San Marcos - Banda Tipica De Mazatlan - 2:52   8. Dos Con El Alma - Banda Tipica De Mazatlan - 2:58   9. El Callejero - Conjunto Mazatlan De Cruz Lizarraga - 2:27   10. Caballo Bayo - Banda Tipica De Mazatlan - 2:42   11. Los Papaquis - La Banda el Limón - 2:08   12. Mazatlan - La Banda el Limón - 2:08   13. El Costeno - Banda Regional Sinaloa - 2:32   14. Mi Gusto Es - Banda Regional Sinaloa - 3:05   15. Que Milagro Chaparrita - Banda la Costeña - 1:58   16. Sobre Las Olas - Banda Los Mochis De Porfirio Amarillas - 3:06   17. La Nina Perdida - Banda Los Mochis De Porfirio Amarillas - 2:37   18. Sonora Querida - Banda Los Tamazulas De Culiacan - 2:35   19. El Quelite - Banda Los Tamazulas De Culiacan - 3:06   20. Marcha Zacatecas - Banda De Mocorito De Nilo Gallardo - 3:06   21. Carmen - Banda De Mocorito De Nilo Gallardo - 3:03   22. El Novillo Despuntado - Banda Los Escamillas - 2:29   23. Juan Colorado - Banda Los Escamillas - 2:13   24. Mexicano Hasta Las Cachas - Banda el Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga - 2:14

Reviews:

1. The New York Times - John Pareles 
“Something went wonderfully awry when brass-band oom-pah arrived in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa.  Playing instruments first imported by German merchants more than a century ago, the Sinaloans exaggerated everything: the clarinets played higher, the trombones wiggled their notes more, the drumrolls started later and entered with a disruptive flourish…[This CD] collects the first recordings of bandas, which weren’t made until the 1950s.  By then all the familiar ingredients were in place, and little has changed in the ways bandas laugh and lurch through their songs.”        

2. AllMusic - Richie Unterberger 
Tambora (sometimes called banda) is the term given to the style of brass band music that arose in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. While the brass and woodwind instruments produced music akin to mariachi in its blend of Mexican and German marching band influences, the percussion was produced by drums made in the region, tamboras. The tamboras act as the chief distinction between tambora music and related styles, for both its deep booming and high crashing beats. This CD is a collection of 24 recordings made in the style, most dating from the early '50s, though there are three tracks from the mid-'60s, and a couple from the '90s to serve as illustrations of how the style has endured over the decades. For listeners not schooled in the gradations of differences between related styles, there's a lengthy essay in the booklet that does much to explain those. To the more casual listener, it will sound much like mariachi music with a more pronounced influence of German oom-pah marching bands, as well as somewhat greater variety and emphasis upon solos and counter-melodies than is heard in much mariachi music. The tempos vary from foxtrots and waltzes to boleros and polkas. At its most whirling and up-tempo, there's something of a circus-like atmosphere. The addition of vocals by Las Hermanas Sarabia on one of the mid-'60s cuts (by Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizarraga) do much to make the genre more palatable to those not enamored of the instrumental format.