With original, traditional New Mexican-style retablo cover art and contemporary sketches by Sean Wells. Includes a 10-page booklet with lyrics, portraits of the elders we've learned from, and information about the styles and genres that make up traditional instrumental Northern New Mexican music.
Includes unlimited streaming of Nuevas Acequias, Rio Viejo: traditional music of Northern New Mexico
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about
In 1952, composer/ethnomusicologist John Donald Robb recorded Librado Leyva playing this tune at a dance in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He documented a unique moment in New Mexico music history: the violinist is using a pickup and is plugged into an amp; the acoustic guitar is amped, and the extra volume allows for a drummer as the third member of the group. The John Donald Robb Archive of Southwestern Music includes 13 tracks that the band played at that dance, a set that mixed the old regional dances (cunas, chotes, polkas, and varsovianas) with foxtrots and instrumental rancheras. This is the only example we know of of the old diverse fiddle repertoire in an electric, amplified context; within a few years dances were led by electric guitars, and most of the old repertoire and the steps that went with it were left behind.
One of the swing tunes Librado played at the baile was Capullito, a Caribbean song by Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín which became a hit in the mid ‘40s and was featured in a popular Mexican film. It was hugely popular in New Mexico and Texas and many of the older people we play for recognize the song. It started off as a bolero son but at that time, under the influence of popular swing music, many tropical rhythms that weren’t native to New Mexico were adapted into the repertoire as foxtrots (in the same way that today they are often interpreted as cumbias norteñas).
Librado Leyva was an excellent violinist who was well known throughout Northern New Mexico. We had heard his name preserved in the repertoire of Cleofes Ortiz, who learned many tunes from him. He didn’t make any commercial recordings, so we’re fortunate to have the field recordings that are part of the John Donald Robb Archive of Southwestern Music. He played this as an instrumental dance tune, as it’s still played in New Mexico; we reintroduced the lyrics from Caribbean sources (sung here by Lia Martínez) and a few melodic turns based on how Belén Escobedo of San Antonio, TX has adapted tropical tunes to Norteño fiddling contexts.
lyrics
Lindo capullo de alelí, si tu supieras mi dolor,
Correspondieras a mi amor, y calmaras mi sufrir.
Porque tu sabes que sin tí, la vida es nada para mí,
Tu bien lo sabes,capullito de alelí.
Beautiful gillyflower bud, if you knew my pain,
You’d return my love and calm my suffering.
Because you know that without you, life is nothing to me.
You know it well, beautiful flower.
No hay en el mundo para mí, otro capullo de alelí,
Que yo le brinde mi pasión y que le dé mi corazón.
Porque tú eres la mujer,a quien he dado mi querer,
Y te juré, lindo alelí, fidelidad hasta morir.
There is no other flower in the world for me
That I would give my passion and my heart to.
Because you are the woman to whom I have given my love,
And I swore to you, beautiful flower, to be true until I die.
Por eso yo te canto a tí, lindo capullito de alelí:
Dáme tu aroma seductor y un poquito de tu amor.
Porque tu sabes que sin tí la vida es nada para mí.
Tu bien lo sabes, capullito de alelí.
So I sing to you, beautiful flower bud:
Give me your intoxicating scent and a little of your love.
Because you know that without you life is nothing to me.
You know it well beautiful flower bud.
supported by 8 fans who also own “Capullito de Aleli (Swing/Foxtrot)”
Great choice of music, expertly played and sung. Nicely produced. I hope to see The Onlies live, asap. This is an album I listen to over and over. Karamogo
supported by 7 fans who also own “Capullito de Aleli (Swing/Foxtrot)”
This rendition of Virgil Anderson's "Jenny Hang the Kettle On" is wonderful. It perfectly grabs the simplistic beauty of Virgil's version, but has such clarity. Amazing album! Payton Scott
supported by 6 fans who also own “Capullito de Aleli (Swing/Foxtrot)”
Powerful collection rooted in the stories that must be re-told. Played by some of the most generous community music people I’ve met during my foray into Old Time music.
This CD is a keeper! Ellen B. (Elly) Marshall
