Pop great honors "ranchera" roots

For those who think of Mexico as a tourist destination — a trip to the sunshine, good food and good music — Juan Gabriel's big show will be a reminder of a favorite land.

For those with roots in Mexico, Gabriel is simply home.

"He's one of the biggest stars in Mexico," said Elizabeth Ramirez, program coordinator of the Familias Unidas Latino Resource Center in Everett.

Gabriel, she said, "has been a part of many generations."

"My grandparents liked him; my mom liked him," she said. "If you're at that point in your life and you were exposed to his music through your parents, it's a huge influence."

The word went out months ago: Juan Gabriel, one of Mexico's greatest entertainers, was coming to Everett.

The "35 Aniversario de Juan Gabriel Tour," which plays at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Everett Events Center, is huge: 3 ˝ hours and 65 musicians, including a mariachi band and a choir as well as dancers.

And, of course, Gabriel, a six-time Grammy nominee considered the most prolific composer in Mexican history. Gabriel, a member of the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame, has penned more than 500 songs. His albums have sold more than 30 million copies.

"There's been attention in the community," said Ramirez. "There's been that, 'Have you gotten your tickets yet?' People are coming from all around the state. I know somebody coming from Spokane, and people from Vancouver, Washington — not just from Everett or Seattle. It's something that everyone from the community will be doing."

That's not surprising. The 56-year-old Gabriel is a producer, vocalist, composer and arranger whose shows are sophisticated, highly arranged pop concerts but also a salute to Mexican folkloric roots, especially the "ranchera" ballads at the heart of the mariachi sound.

"He totally transformed pop music," said Malaica Valiente of SSEG (Sobh Sanchez Entertainment Group) Concerts, which presents the show.

"Ranchera music is country music," she said. "He took that ranchera and turned it into pop. In a very, very closed-minded culture, he completely transformed music in his own style."

If the rhythms remind listeners of the polka and the waltz, there's a reason. Ranchera music is based on European folk dances, brought to the Rio Grande region by miners in the mid-1800s. Called "ranchera" because the celebratory ballads were often performed on ranches, especially for festivals, it is one of Mexico's most popular exports.

"It's music of the country people, very much about everyday life," said Valiente.

Gabriel's concerts feature the violins, trumpets, accordions and guitars of the classic mariachi tradition. Valiente said the concert includes all of Gabriel's hits, and sometimes he'll even start a pop song, announce "Let's bring some light and bring some happiness from my lovely Mexico," and then transform it to ranchera. Onto the stage comes his longtime mariachi band, a group of 20 suited snappy dressers with their instruments, as well as the singers and costumed dancers.

"This man is a showman," said Valiente. "When the ranchera starts, everyone stands up in the arena. You get goose bumps."

Valiente said the show is now reaching communities, such as Everett, not often visited by Latino artists before. One of Gabriel's biggest concerts on the current tour was in Denver, where he sold 9,000 tickets, Valiente said.

Like many American pop stars, the man born Alberto Valadés was a child prodigy. The youngest of 10 children, he grew up in Juarez, Mexico, and was supporting himself performing music by age 13.

By 21, Valadés was recording with RCA records as Juan Gabriel and writing for other top Latino performers, eventually also writing for such American pop singers as Paul Anka. Strikingly handsome in his youth, Gabriel also worked in the Mexican movie industry, and his original love song "Querida" became a big hit in 1984.

The year 1995 was another milestone, with three top-40 Billboard hits — "El Palo," "Como La Luna" and "No Tengo Dinero" — in the "Hot Latin Tracks" category, either performed by Gabriel or covered by other stars.

Always aware of his roots, which included years in an orphanage, Gabriel wrote "Amor Eterno" in homage to his late mother. In a gesture as much symbolic as specific, he bought the mansion where his mother had toiled for years as a housekeeper. He runs a Mexican charity for abandoned boys that is also a music and art school.

Ramirez, who has seen him perform in Mexico, said Gabriel's concerts are "a nice way to step into that music. He uses the mariachi, but it doesn't go only into that genre," she said. "It does have the Mexican heritage, but it's not like folklore. I think it's well-arranged, more produced, very mainstream. The way he arranges it, it's easy to understand."

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com