A thousand years ago, the Mayans believed the Jaguar God inhabited the Underworld. Every morning at dawn, it became the Sun God crossing the sky and, with the arrival of night, it returned to the land of the dead. Like the Mayan mythology preceding them, Jaguares exemplify the Mexican cosmic spirit, with their musical mythos, magic and melodrama. The stage becomes their altar and the music hall is their temple. Mystic visions reverberate, tempered with social awareness recombining to form a unique musical vision, emerging as full blown Rock in Spanish. Jaguares, and their previous band Caifanes, represent the golden age of Rock in Spanish. They helped invent it and are coming to Charlotte for the first time in this, their first major American tour.
Regarding their radio airplay in the US, drummer and founding member Alfonso Andre, on the phone from Mexico City, explains, “We get some college radio and some independent stations. But Latin stations don’t like us. They like playing more traditional Latin music. Same thing happens in Mexico, too.”
But the band has a plan, according to Andre. “We build a fan base. We go to the states several times every year. We played many times in LA, Chicago and New York. But this time, it’s our biggest US tour. We’re trying to expand our fan base. Little by little, we’re succeeding. It’s weird, but it works.”
Despite the lack of airplay, the band’s refusal to compromise its values has never stopped its ability to succeed. Explaining these non-commercial ideals, lead singer, charismatic front man, band co-founder, guitarist and songwriter Saul Hernandez, in an earlier interview, declared, “We’re human beings in our songs, in our concerts. We share that with the fans. We try to make values that are more important than money. We talk to the record company, ‘Stop thinking about selling for selling.’ We are not [like somebody from] The Matrix. We are human beings. Show them [our audience] the magic and the touch of the music. It’s not about the money.”
While Jaguares and their earlier group Caifanes represent the golden age of Rock in Spanish, it’s important to mention that no single band founded Rock in Spanish and that about the only thing in common among these many bands is that they grew up admiring Anglo-American rock and that they record and perform in Spanish. They may not have understood the lyrics of Led Zeppelin, the Stones or The Cure, but they picked up on the energy and adapted it to their own purposes. Rock in Spanish is wide-ranging and inclusive, extending from singer-songwriters to Mexican rap, from Control Machete to Colombia’s Aterciopelados. What Jaguares has done is take their brooding yet high-minded, passionate melodramas and mix them with Anglo-American rock influences, only to finally top it off with otherworldly, neo-tropical overtones. You can hear traditional indigenous music, Afro-Caribbean, tropical psychedelic and New Latin Groove. Add that to Spanish classical, Latin rhythm cumbias, boleros and rock as spectacle, and you have a band that creates its own buzz.
Their latest CD is called Cuando La Sangre Galopa (When the Blood Gallops), and like its predecessors, it’s got all the elements needed for a fine listen, whether you understand a word of Spanish or not. It’s already garnered a Grammy nomination (though that’s not necessarily considered a plus) in the Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album category. What the recording contains is a simmering, sinewy, spacey groove that maintains coherence through the entire recording. Nothing is dull or boring. Spacey soundscapes like “Viaje Astral” contrast well with metaphysical rocker “El Secreto” and the hook-driven “La Vida No Es Igual.”
After performing in Charlotte and the following night in Raleigh, the band travels to Central America and then back to Mexico. According to Andre, “This is the first time in North Carolina. Then this summer, we’re going to Europe, our first European tour, though Caifanes toured Spain. We’re going to be very busy this year.”
Though politically astute, Jaguares are not polemical. “We are politically aware,” Andre insists, “but first we are musicians. We do not want to use our music as a political weapon.” Instead, they’ve created a cultural phenomenon. Like the Grateful Dead, they have created a huge following of those who thrill to the Jaguares mystery and otherworldly values, mixed with a towering roller coaster of sound.
Jaguares will perform Tuesday, March 12, at Tremont Music Hall. n
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2002.
