The Sounds of the Mexican Countryside

In case you missed it, the Travel section of Sunday’s New York Times included a story on Los Angeles’ corridos (and narcocorridos) scene. Writer Lawrence Downes follows the “sounds of the Mexican countryside” across “clubs, bars, swap meets and concert halls.”

“And in all these places, even if you listen only a little while, you will hear Chalino, or someone trying to sound like him. Chalino was the nickname of Rosalino Sánchez, one of the most influential composers and singers of narcocorridos. Mexicans know him as a valiente, a brave one: armed, dangerous and doomed.”

The infamous corridista died in 1992 at the age of 31. An audience member shot him after a concert in Coachella, California, and though he pulled out his gun and shot back, it was too late. The reason for his death is still a mystery. But his music lives on: “His songs and his imitators are all over Spanish radio, like the local station KBUE, which plays narcocorridos day and night, their jaunty accordion melodies oddly punctuated by special effects: the rattle of automatic gunfire and rumble of helicopters,” writes Downes.

Here’s a video of the strapping Chalino. If you read some of the comments, they all seem to agree that he was the one and only.