Alexandro D. Hernández

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | The son jarocho and its fandango is a migratory and transformative musical culture between nations and social circumstances. The son jarocho embodies tradition in many cultural practices of society, such as its presence at social rites and at fandangos. However, there exist hidden histories, transcripts of resistance not accounted for in Mexico's official history, of the son jarocho as music of struggle and protest. From censorship, punishment, and imprisonment of musicians and dancers during the Holy Inquisition of eighteenth and nineteenth century New Spain (Mexico), to solidarity exchanges in Zapatista rebel camps in the 1990s, the son jarocho functions as a musical demand for social justice and lyrically picaresque resistance. Thes son jarocho's resistance roots are embedded in this music as it migrates into the United States. This presentation will trace the historical trajectory of the son jarocho in California as a way to understand how it was shaped before its present use as music of struggle and protest at the Fandango Fronterizo on the San Diego/Tijuana border.

Alexandro D. Hernández, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills in Los Angeles. Dr. Hernández is an active performer of punk and Mexican traditional music, and is a founding member of son jarocho ensemble Cambalache, El Mariachi Manchester and artcore, futuro-punk band ¡Aparato! (IG: @aparatomusic). He has collaborated with quintessential Chicano rock band Los Lobos and is a featured musician on José Luís Orozco's Grammy-nominated Smithsonian Folkways release ¡Come bien! Eat Right!. His research on the son jarocho and on Morrissey is featured on National Public Radio’s Alt.Latino: With Guitars Like Machetes: Son Jarocho 101 and Happy Cinco de Morrisey. Hernández holds a doctoral degree in ethnomusicology from UCLA, is a two-time Smithsonian Institution Fellow and is published in the anthology Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in Multicultural Activism, The Journal of Pan-African Studies and Smithsonian Folkways.

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