FANDANGO AT THE WALL Film Review-Folk Music of Indigenous, African and Spanish Traditions 

The crystal-clear notes of an acoustic version of La Bamba are performed by a single guitarist, Don Andres Vega, singing and accompanied by Martha Vega. This is likely not the version of La Bamba familiar most-- those sung by 1950’s teen singer, Richie Valens, or later, Los Lobos. This folk version of the love song is being performed by the Vegas from the yard of their rural home in the southern Mexican state of Vera Cruz.  Located on the Gulf Coast, one of the only places in Mexico where African Slaves were brought centuries ago, the Vega’s humble patio is framed by tropical greenery.

The next scene transports us to a concert in NYC with the Vegas and other Son Jaracho musicians and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra playing to hundreds. How did Don Andres Vega, in his 90’s, come to share his music with New York?

The idea for this film came from a newspaper article about San Diego Librarian, Jorge Francisco Castillo, and the Fandangos he has organized for several years. Going through some personal difficulties, Castillo found a kind of salvation and community in the music of Son Jaracho, a 300-year-old tradition of folk music from Vera Cruz, Mexico. It combines the music of Indigenous, African and Spanish traditions. 

One day, at the US/Mexico border near San Diego he wondered if the border fence and the division between the two countries could be surmounted by the same Son Jaracho music—sharing culture and a sense of community in the same way it had helped him. So, Castillo decided to organize a fandango, a gathering of Son Jaracho song and dance, at the border wall. He called it, Fandango Fronterizo. We watch as Castillo, talks of overcoming the separation created by the wall through music as we trace the wall’s iron bars along the border until they disappear into the crashing surf of the Pacific Ocean.

Each of the two principal organizers of the film, multi-award-winning Grammy musicians, Kabir Sehgal and Arturo O’Farrill, accompany Castillo on a tour of Vera Cruz, to meet Son Jaracho musicians, including dancers and poets in their communities. As they drive and meet local people, we learn more about their lives, their multicultural experiences and their growing sense of community with the roots of the music. 

We are also treated to exceptional performances by this array of musicians in their homes. This intimate portrayal takes us into the workshops of some of the musicians making their own instruments, a tradition passed down from father to son. Usually women dancing, spinning full, brightly colored skirts and stomping heels on raised wooden platforms provides the percussion for the songs. One mother played a cow jaw bone. Similar to jazz, this music is improvisational, alive and subject to interpretation. Whole families are involved including mothers, fathers and their children.