INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups water
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt


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DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender.
Stir in water and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.

This article is about the Mexican musical genre and ensemble. For the apparatus for the detection of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, see MARIACHI.
For the 1992 film, see El Mariachi.
Mariachi

Stylistic origins: Son Jaliscense
Cultural origins: 18th century Jalisco
Typical instruments: Violin, guitarrón, guitarra de golpe, vihuela, guitar, trumpet, and occasionally a harp
Mainstream popularity: Popularity of this Mexican genre has grown much. Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico hosts an annual Mariachi festival every September, which draws Mariachis from throughout the world.
Subgenres
Ranchera, Traditional,
Fusion genres
Nortec
Other topics
Charro - Jarabe tapatío(also the name of a song) - Zapateado - Son Huasteco - Huapango
Mariachi is a type of musical group, originally from Cocula, Jalisco, Mexico. Usually a mariachi consists of at least two violins, two trumpets, one Mexican guitar, one vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar) and one guitarrón (a small-scaled acoustic bass). They dress in silver studded charro outfits with wide-brimmed hats. The original Mariachi were Mexican street musicians or buskers.[1] Many mariachis are professional entertainers doing paid gigs in the mainstream entertainment industry. Professionals are normally skilled at more than one instrument, and they also sing. They sometimes accompany ranchera singers such as Vicente Fernandez. Although ranchera singers dress in a traje de charro, they are not mariachis.

Although mariachis are hired to play at events such as weddings and other formal occasions, such as a quinceañera (fifteenth birthday celebration for girls), they are very often used to serenade women because many of the songs in a typical repertoire have as a theme the desire to touch the heart of the opposite ***. Some of the songs are sad; others are about how much that special someone appreciates your company. Trios of mariachis can be found for hire in different places at night (the best known venues are Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara and Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City) for the purposes of serenading. Mother's days are also another popular occasion for mariachis.

Tourists frequently confuse mariachis with all types of buskers seen in Mexico, such as jarochos. Mariachi refers to musicians who dress and play in a style typical of the Mexican state of Jalisco, although the style and music played has spread far beyond the limits of Jalisco and jalisciense music itself. Generally a guitarrón and a vihuela must be included for a group to be considered a mariachi.

Contents [hide]
1 Origins
1.1 Etymology
2 History
3 Music
3.1 Technique
4 Attire
5 Instrumentation
6 Venue
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links



[edit] Origins

A group of mariachi at the Guadalajara festival.Mariachi music as we know it today results from the confluence of several different influences: European styled concert ensembles on haciendas composed of violins, harp, guitars, jawharps and other instruments, simpler coastal folk ensembles whose African influence gives mariachi some of its key rhythmic elements, and the harp and violin ensembles of the tierra caliente.[2] It originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco, according to popular legend in the town of Cocula, in the 19th century, the first example cited in print dates from 1880. [3] By the end of the nineteenth century, the vihuela, two violins, and the guitarrón which had replaced the harp, were the instruments of the mariachi(s). Trumpets, now a key part of the mariachi sound were introduced later, during the early days of broadcast radio.


[edit] Etymology
Musicologists and folklorists have argued for years over the origin of mariachi.

Standard Spanish dictionaries and encyclopedias name the French word mariage (meaning wedding or marriage) as a possible origin, and date it back to the 1860s, when Maximillian of Habsburg was Emperor of Mexico. This theory was probably first put forward by Alfonso Reyes.

Another probable theory of the origin of the word mariachi is that it originated in the language of the Cora, an indigenous people of Nayarit (not Jalisco where the band originated). It may refer to the wood used to make the instruments, but this explanation has yet to be proven linguistically.The music is a very romantic kind of music. [4]


[edit] History
In the 19th century, many Mariachi were roaming laborers moving from one hacienda to another, often more than the average laborer. With the revolution, however, many of the haciendas were forced to dismiss the mariachi, who then wandered from town to town singing songs (corridos) of revolutionary heroes and enemies, and carrying news from one place to another. The Mariachi took to playing in public venues for tips. One of the most popular of these venues was San Pedro Tlaquepaque in the state of Jalisco, a fashionable place for the residents of Guadalajara to spend the summer.

From the beginning, mariachi music was dance music. The traditional dance technique associated with both the son jalisciense and son jarocho is the zapateado. When dancing the zapateado, which originated in Spain, the performers drive the heels of their boots into the dance-floor, pounding out swift, often syncopated rhythms which complement that of the musical instruments. Another typical mariachi dance, the Jarabe tapatío or Mexican Hat Dance, from Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, has become the national dance of Mexico. It is highly stylized, with prescribed movements and costumes. The male wears the classic outfit of the Jalisco horsemen, similar to the outfit of a cowboy, or charro, while the female wears a hand-woven shawl and a bright sequined skirt.

Until the 1930s, Mariachis were semi-professional and almost entirely unknown outside their own region. This began to change when Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, founded by Gaspar Vargas in 1898, went from Jalisco to Mexico City. President Lázaro Cárdenas invited them to play at his inauguration in 1934, and later to accompany him in his campaign in 1936.

Silvestre Vargas, who had taken over from his father as leader of the Mariachi Vargas in 1928, soon hired a trained musician, Rubén Fuentes, as musical director. Together, Vargas and Fuentes standardized musical arrangements for many of the popular sones and insisted on the use of written music, which greatly facilitated the exchange among different mariachi bands. Their arrangements were used by the great singers of their time, including Pedro Infante, Lola Beltran, Jorge Negrete, Javier Solís and José Alfredo Jiménez. Influenced by j*** and Cuban music in the 1950s, they introduced the trumpet into the standard ensemble, which now included six to eight violins, a guitarrón, a vihuela, a guitar, two trumpets, and occasionally a harp as well. Trumpets were also introduced to mariachi music to accommodate the technical limitations of music recording equipment available for the cinema. However, nowadays trumpets have become an essential part of the signature mariachi sound, as exemplified by the opening notes of "El Son de la Negra."

Aided by the advent of radio, television, and the movies, mariachi music went on to become a definitive part of Mexican culture, and the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán appeared in over 200 films in the 1940s and 1950s, often considered the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

Prior to the 1930s, photographs show early mariachis dressed in calzones de manta, and huaraches, homespun white cotton pants and shirts and leather sandals, the clothes worn by most peasants in Jalisco. During the 1930s, however, many mariachi took to wearing the traje de charro, consisting of a waist-length jacket and tightly fitted wool pants which open slightly at the ankle to fit over a short riding boot. Both pants and jacket are often ornamented with embroidery, intricately cut leather designs, or silver buttons in a variety of shapes. This outfit is often complemented by a large bow-tie, a wide belt and a large sombrero. It is said that General Porfirio Díaz ordered a mariachi band to wear charro suits while playing for the United States Secretary of State. If true, this may be the source of traditional dress for mariachi bands.

The mariachi tradition was further extended to a widespread mainstream audience in the United States when popular American folk rock singer Linda Ronstadt realized her dream of making a record of Mexican Canciones in 1987. Ronstadt came from a leading Arizona ranch family who had a long tradition of making and singing Mexican folk music. In 1987, her Canciones De Mi Padre disc was a surprise smash hit with the American public and brought Mariachi music to a level of recognition and credibility it had not seen before north of the border. The al*** went on to multi-platinum status, becoming at the time the biggest selling non-English language disc in United States history. It also spawned a successful videocassette of Linda's elaborate stage show which was later released on DVD. Ronstadt went on to record a sequel titled "Mas Canciones."

The mariachi tradition has been extensively influenced from Mexico to the United States, Argentina and to other countries, particularly Colombia. Colombian music is highly influenced by popular Mexican mariachi traditions.[citation needed]

The American composer Jeff Nevin has composed a Concerto for Mariachi and Orchestra, which was premiered by the La Jolla Symphony.


[edit] Music

Luis Miguel.The contemporary mariachi ensemble plays a wide range of music: sones jalisciences, rancheras, corridos, sones jarocho, sones istmeños, huapangos (or sones huastecos), boleros, canciones, jarabes, danzónes, valses, pasos dobles and recently cumbias and other modern rhythms.

Mariachi music gets its characteristic sound from the various Jalisco sons (sones jaliscienses) that formed the basis of the early ensembles repertoire. There are two principal catgories of son in Jalisco: those from the South (sones del sur) and those from the North (sones alteñeos). The sones in the South were influenced by African music brought to the coastal regions by slaves who worked sugar plantations there during colonial times, and by the folk traditions of the high plateaus of the tirra caliente. The sones in the North were influenced by the criollo ensembles popular on haciendas. The mixture of the rhythmic complexity of music from the south and the clog-dance driven structure of the music from the north came together to form a village son jalisciense in the larger towns of central Jalisco, and from that the mariachi sound emerged.[5]


[edit] Technique
Traditional mariachi music is made up of a combination of song-specific melodies and common tropes (introductions, bridges, and codas). The presence of the tropes allows for an ensemble to play a piece without everyone in the ensemble needing to know it well. Much of the ensemble can play basic obligato parts for much of any given piece and still demonstrate virtuosity in the trope figures.

Mariachi violin music is typically played in fixed positions, and the positions are generally limited to I and III. Most mariachi pieces are made up of collections of smaller pieces, and with respect to the violin, it's common to include some in the first and some in the fifth position. For example in the famous Jarabe Tapatío, the first two sections are in first position, followed by two section in third with a short bridge in first, after which the piece finishes in first. The nearly exclusive use of these two relatively stable positions facilitates playing together in tune.[6]


[edit] Attire

Mariachis play the vihuela and the guitar.The musicians’ background was from working-class and rural towns, so the first Mariachis dressed in a peasants attire, which included large straw sombreros with a chin strap, a hat band, red sarape or black wool blanket over the shoulder, long straight-cut muslin pants, a cotton shirt of the same material called manta, a red sash around the waist, and simple huaraches (sandals). The black wool blanket and the red sash are the only added item.[7] The traje de charro evokes gentleman landowners and talented cowboys (charros) of the time of Maximillian's rule.


[edit] Instrumentation
Current mariachi instrumentation includes a guitarrón, a vihuela, a guitar, violins, and trumpets. Some groups might use a guitarra de golpe, a mariachi harp or even a flute. From the 70's some singers have occasionally added other instruments as accordion, organ, keyboard, harmonica, saxophone and even drums, although they were considered additions, never part of the mariachi instrumentation itself. During the last years ranchera singers as Alejandro Fernandez, Pablo Montero and Pepe Aguilar have made fusions of mariachi with orchestra and drums/percussions giving birth to a mariachi/pop ballads crossover style.


[edit] Venue
The Mariachi music became the symbol of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) because it represented the Mexican’s national spirit or the Spanish-indigenous blood of Mexican ethnicity. The Mariachi has different forms of music such as son, cancion ranchera, bolero ranchero, huapango and polka.[8] As well, Mariachi is poetic using the copla and seguidilla forms.[8] Mariachi music is played for serenades, baptism, birthdays, quinceañeras, weddings, Mother’s Days, funerals, conventions, store openings, company parties, civic celebrations, political campaigns, Mass, or in restaurants, bars, theaters, radio and television shows.[9] This music is so anchored in Mexico’s history that it is found in all types of celebration. Over time, this popularity has divided Mariachi music into two types: the authentic folk mariachi which consists of only string instruments and the commercial urban Mariachi which has changed the original music the mariachis played.[10] The music was at first introduced by men, today the women mariachis have been on the rise. This came with the popularity of Mariachi music among the Mexican community living in the United States which allowed women to be part of this cultural phenomenon.[11] Still, the presence of women in Mariachi bands within Mexico's borders remains scarce

Sonora is one of the 31 federal states of Mexico and is located in the northwest of the country. Its name comes from the Opata Xunuta, meaning "place of corn". It borders the state of Chihuahua to the east, Sinaloa to the south and Baja California to the northwest; to the north it shares an extensive border with the U.S. state of Arizona and a shorter one with New Mexico. To its west lies the Gulf of California. The state is the second largest state by area in the country, occupying 9.2% of the total area of the nation.

The territory consists of four physiographic regions: The Sierra Madre Occidental, Parallel Mountains and Valleys, the Desert, and the Coast of the Gulf of California.

Contents [hide]
1 General
2 Population
3 Government
4 Institutions of higher education
5 Political divisions
6 Geography
7 Economy
8 Tourism
9 People
10 External links



[edit] General
The state of Sonora is situated in the northwest of Mexico, in North America. Its shores are washed by the Sea of Cortez in the Gulf of California, which is connected to the Pacific Ocean further south. Sonora is thus linked to the so-called "Pacific Rim" that offers ample opportunities for economic development, as well as many challenges and opportunities for sustainable use of its natural resources. Its borders with the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico, and California allow multiple economic, cultural and political ties with the United States.

Three Mexican states share land borders with Sonora: Baja California to the west, Chihuahua to the east, and Sinaloa to the south, while the state of Baja California Sur shares maritime boundaries with Sonora.

Sonora is located in a climactic strip in the northern hemisphere which has formed various deserts around the globe. The state is located at the same latitude as the deserts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and more.

An extensive network of roads, the backbone of which is a four-lane highway that crosses the state from south to north, joins Sonora with the rest of Mexico and with the United States of America.

The state is the second largest in the country, representing 9.2% of the nation's total with an area of 184,934 km². Sonora's border with the United States is 588.199 km long, which for the most part is with Arizona (568 km), and the rest with the state of New Mexico (20 km). The border with the state of Chihuahua is 592 km, and that with Sinaloa is 117 km.

The Sonoran coastline is 1,207.810 km, together with its borders with surrounding states, it gives the total perimeter of the state as 2,505 km.


[edit] Population
In 2000, the state of Sonora had 2,839,969 inhabitants, of whom 50.1% were men and 49.9% were women, representing 2.3% of the national total. Population growth has been steady, with a population increase of 703,238 persons between 1980 and 2000. As of 2000, there were 271,277 children under 5 years of age, 474,481 children aged between 5 and 14 years, 422,588 between 15 and 24 years 740,930 between 25 and 49 years, and 307,693 adults 50 years and older.

According to the last official national census that counted the racial component (1921), it was observed that 45.84% of the population was white, 40.38% was mestizo, and 13.78% was indigenous. These amounts have been changing due to the influx of indigenous and mestizo populations from the south.

The most populous cities in Sonora are:

Hermosillo 707,890
Ciudad Obregón 375,800
Nogales 290,759
Guaymas 101,505 (not counting Empalme)
Navojoa 163,312
San Luis Río Colorado 138,796

[edit] Government
The government of the State of Sonora is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.

The executive branch consists of a Governor elected by direct vote every six years without the possibility of re-election. The current Governor for the period 2003-2009 is José Eduardo Robinson-Bours castelo of the PRI and PVEM.

The legislative branch consists of a unicameral legislature composed of 21 deputies elected directly and 12 deputies elected by proportional representation for a period of three years with no possibility of re-election.

The judicial branch of the state of Sonora is composed of seven judges. Currently Lic. Max Gutiérrez Cohen is the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the State.


[edit] Institutions of higher education
The main institution of higher education is the University of Sonora (UNISON), whose main campus is located in Hermosillo, with satellite campuses in Navojoa, Caborca, Santa Ana, and Nogales. UNISON is currently one of the biggest public institutions of higher education in Mexico.

Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON)
Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo (ITH)
Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonora (CESUES)
Instituto Tecnológico de Nogales (ITN)
Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cajeme (ITESCA)
Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cananea (ITESCAN)
Instituto Tecnologico Superior de Puerto Peñasco (ITSPP)
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM-COB)
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM-CSN)
Universidad de Sonora (UNISON)
Universidad del Valle de México (UVM), formerly Universidad del Noroeste (UNO)
Universidad Kino
Universidad La Salle Noroeste (ULSA)
Universidad de Navojoa (UNAV)
Universidad TecMilenio

[edit] Political divisions

Municipalities of the State of SonoraMain article: Municipalities of Sonora
Sonora is subdivided into 72 municipalities (Spanish: municipios), each headed by a municipal president.


[edit] Geography

Valley of Sonora
[edit] Economy
Sonora's main economic activities are livestock farming, mining, fishing and agriculture.

Mining centers include Cananea, Nacozari, Tubutama, Yécora and Álamos where gold, silver or copper are found.


[edit] Tourism
Sonora is a premier tourist destination, especially for visitors from neighboring Arizona.

Recently, Sonora has experienced a boom in tourism, especially in the city of Puerto Peñasco, due to its being the nearest beach to many population centers in Arizona.


[edit] People
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta
Abelardo L. Rodríguez
Álvaro Obregón
Plutarco Elías Calles
Adolfo de la Huerta
Manlio Fabio Beltrones
Silvia Pinal
Ramón Corral
Jesús García Corona "Héroe de Nacozari"
José María Leyva "El Indio Cajeme"
Ana Gabriela Guevara
Julio César Chávez
María Félix
Félix María Zuloaga

Sonora is one of the 31 federal states of Mexico and is located in the northwest of the country. Its name comes from the Opata Xunuta, meaning "place of corn". It borders the state of Chihuahua to the east, Sinaloa to the south and Baja California to the northwest; to the north it shares an extensive border with the U.S. state of Arizona and a shorter one with New Mexico. To its west lies the Gulf of California. The state is the second largest state by area in the country, occupying 9.2% of the total area of the nation.

The territory consists of four physiographic regions: The Sierra Madre Occidental, Parallel Mountains and Valleys, the Desert, and the Coast of the Gulf of California.

Contents [hide]
1 General
2 Population
3 Government
4 Institutions of higher education
5 Political divisions
6 Geography
7 Economy
8 Tourism
9 People
10 External links



[edit] General
The state of Sonora is situated in the northwest of Mexico, in North America. Its shores are washed by the Sea of Cortez in the Gulf of California, which is connected to the Pacific Ocean further south. Sonora is thus linked to the so-called "Pacific Rim" that offers ample opportunities for economic development, as well as many challenges and opportunities for sustainable use of its natural resources. Its borders with the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico, and California allow multiple economic, cultural and political ties with the United States.

Three Mexican states share land borders with Sonora: Baja California to the west, Chihuahua to the east, and Sinaloa to the south, while the state of Baja California Sur shares maritime boundaries with Sonora.

Sonora is located in a climactic strip in the northern hemisphere which has formed various deserts around the globe. The state is located at the same latitude as the deserts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and more.

An extensive network of roads, the backbone of which is a four-lane highway that crosses the state from south to north, joins Sonora with the rest of Mexico and with the United States of America.

The state is the second largest in the country, representing 9.2% of the nation's total with an area of 184,934 km². Sonora's border with the United States is 588.199 km long, which for the most part is with Arizona (568 km), and the rest with the state of New Mexico (20 km). The border with the state of Chihuahua is 592 km, and that with Sinaloa is 117 km.

The Sonoran coastline is 1,207.810 km, together with its borders with surrounding states, it gives the total perimeter of the state as 2,505 km.


[edit] Population
In 2000, the state of Sonora had 2,839,969 inhabitants, of whom 50.1% were men and 49.9% were women, representing 2.3% of the national total. Population growth has been steady, with a population increase of 703,238 persons between 1980 and 2000. As of 2000, there were 271,277 children under 5 years of age, 474,481 children aged between 5 and 14 years, 422,588 between 15 and 24 years 740,930 between 25 and 49 years, and 307,693 adults 50 years and older.

According to the last official national census that counted the racial component (1921), it was observed that 45.84% of the population was white, 40.38% was mestizo, and 13.78% was indigenous. These amounts have been changing due to the influx of indigenous and mestizo populations from the south.

The most populous cities in Sonora are:

Hermosillo 707,890
Ciudad Obregón 375,800
Nogales 290,759
Guaymas 101,505 (not counting Empalme)
Navojoa 163,312
San Luis Río Colorado 138,796

[edit] Government
The government of the State of Sonora is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.

The executive branch consists of a Governor elected by direct vote every six years without the possibility of re-election. The current Governor for the period 2003-2009 is José Eduardo Robinson-Bours castelo of the PRI and PVEM.

The legislative branch consists of a unicameral legislature composed of 21 deputies elected directly and 12 deputies elected by proportional representation for a period of three years with no possibility of re-election.

The judicial branch of the state of Sonora is composed of seven judges. Currently Lic. Max Gutiérrez Cohen is the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the State.


[edit] Institutions of higher education
The main institution of higher education is the University of Sonora (UNISON), whose main campus is located in Hermosillo, with satellite campuses in Navojoa, Caborca, Santa Ana, and Nogales. UNISON is currently one of the biggest public institutions of higher education in Mexico.

Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON)
Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo (ITH)
Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonora (CESUES)
Instituto Tecnológico de Nogales (ITN)
Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cajeme (ITESCA)
Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cananea (ITESCAN)
Instituto Tecnologico Superior de Puerto Peñasco (ITSPP)
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM-COB)
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM-CSN)
Universidad de Sonora (UNISON)
Universidad del Valle de México (UVM), formerly Universidad del Noroeste (UNO)
Universidad Kino
Universidad La Salle Noroeste (ULSA)
Universidad de Navojoa (UNAV)
Universidad TecMilenio

[edit] Political divisions

Municipalities of the State of SonoraMain article: Municipalities of Sonora
Sonora is subdivided into 72 municipalities (Spanish: municipios), each headed by a municipal president.


[edit] Geography

Valley of Sonora
[edit] Economy
Sonora's main economic activities are livestock farming, mining, fishing and agriculture.

Mining centers include Cananea, Nacozari, Tubutama, Y�