Sones de México

Juan Díes seems like a genial guy, always smiling while he plucks his guitarron when he takes his turn singing with Sones de México.

by Mary Armstrong

mexican/folk

Juan Díes seems like a genial guy, always smiling while he plucks his guitarron when he takes his turn singing with Sones de México. But press him about the history of this group he co-founded with Victor Pichardo, and he shows his feisty side. "My original motivation for starting Sones was championing Mexican culture," he asserts. Though born in the U.S., Díes spent his youth in Mexico, so he has firsthand familiarity. For years he's lived in Chicago where, he points out, there are more than a million Mexicans in a community more than 100 years old, yet nobody thinks of that city as a center for Mexican culture. "I thought to myself, don't they know? Somebody's gotta do something about it! The tourist culture is fine, but there is more to it!"

Thus we have Sones de México, six players, 25 instruments: tiny stringed jarans to gigantic guitarrones, immense marimbas that need two players, jawbones complete with teeth scraped by a stick for rhythm, a modern drum set. A dancer demonstrates the most widespread folk drumming in Mexico: thundering heels on the floor. Sones draw on music from all parts of the country, plus they don't hesitate to adapt a few things, like a campesino-fave Buck Owens tune rendered in Spanish. Their next CD, Este Tierra Es Tuya ("This Land Is Your Land") will include the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 as a jarocho and a Led Zep tune. "We began to record it even before the protests. I guess it was something in the air," muses Díes. "When people see us playing, and see the level of artistry, they take on a new respect for our culture. I like people to see that the culture is deep."

Fri., Nov. 3, 5-8:45 p.m., free with museum admission of $12, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Parkway, 215-763-8100, www.philamuseum.org.