¡Viva Arte de Santa Barbara! will present Los Camperos de Nati Cano with free concerts at 7 p.m. Friday, March 23 at Isla Vista School, 6875 El Colegio Road, Goleta (805-893-5037); 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24 at Guadalupe City Hall, 918 Obispo St., Guadalupe (805-343-2939), and at 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday, March 25 at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 E. Cota St., Santa Barbara (805-884-4087, ext. 7).
For more than 50 years Los Camperos de Nati Cano has performed worldwide featuring mariachi musicians from Mexico and the United States, ¡Viva Arte de Santa Barbara! reported in a media release. Cano has both mirrored and shaped the history of mariachi music. He was born in 1933 into a family of mariachi musicians in Ahuisculco, Jalisco, a small rural town outside Guadalajara, and one of the many western Mexican communities that gave life to the mariachi tradition. His career took him first to nearby Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, and then farther away to Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, he and Los Camperos emerged as a major driving force of the mariachi music tradition in the United States. Los Camperos de Nati Cano has existed for more than 50 years and is noted for demanding musical arrangements that highlight the individual skills and voices of the players. The ensemble employs the finest musicians from Mexico and the United States and has performed for audiences worldwide. In December 2006, Cano’s contributions to the American music landscape were recognized when he became one of the first artists nationwide to win a USA Fellowship from United States Artists. In its inaugural year, United States Artists awarded 50 USA Fellowships to a total of 54 artists. Cano was one of only five musicians to be named a USA Fellow in the inaugural year. Mariachi Los Camperos was one of four mariachis that collaborated on Linda Ronstadt’s album, Canciones de Mi Padre (Songs of my Father).
In 1988-89, the group worked on the promotion of the album, including national television appearances on programs including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Grammy Awards Show. They also appear on Linda Ronstadt’s Mas Canciones (More Songs). The ensemble has recorded nine albums including: Puro Mariachi (Indigo Records, 1961); North of the Border (RCA/Carino Records, 1965); El Super Mariachi, Los Camperos (Latin International, 1968); Valses de Amor (La Fonda Records, 1973); Canciones de Siempre (PolyGram Latino, 1993); Sounds of Mariachi (Delfin Records, 1996) and Fiesta Navidad (Delfin Records, 1997); Viva el Mariachi (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2003); Llegaron Los Camperos, (Smithsonian Folkways, 2005.) Los Camperos shared a 2005 Best Musical Album for Children Grammy for cELLAbration!, A tribute to Ella Jenkins. In 2006, the album Llegaron Los Camperos was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album. In 2008, the group released their third CD with Smithsonian Folkways, entitled Amor, Dolor y Lágrima that won the 2009 Grammy for Best Regional Mexican Album.
¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! is a collaboration of the Marjorie Luke Theatre, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts & Education Center, Isla Vista School, and UCSB Arts & Lectures. Bringing free music and dance to neighborhood venues, schools and community organizations throughout Santa Barbara County, Viva concentrates on making important traditions accessible to students and families. In order to reach out to the broadest possible audience Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano will also visit several schools and community groups as part of their Santa Barbara stay.
Viva co-ordinators Alíz Ruvalcaba, Graciela Parra, and Catherine Boyer reach out to local communities to get the word out and organize volunteers to run the events. In Jan. 2011, the national Association of Performing Arts Presenters recognized Viva as one of two exemplary outreach programs nationwide.
The James Irvine Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and many others in our community support ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! including the Santa Barbara Foundation, Incredible Children’s Art Network, the UCSB Office of Education Partnerships, the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, The Marjorie Luke Theatre’s Dreier Family Rent Subsidy Fund, the Santa Barbara Independent, Santa Barbara Latino, Santa Maria Sun, Univisión, Radio Bronco, R & V Photography, Fairview In & Out Carwash, the Sandman Inn and Pacifica Suites. This project is funded in part by the Community Arts Grant Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara, in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission. Co-presented by the Marjorie Luke Theatre, the Guadalupe Arts & Education Center and UCSB Arts & Lectures, in collaboration with the Isla Vista School After School Grant.