Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesus Guzman
Hi Jesus, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Here is a biograpohy that best describes my story.
Jesús Guzmán was born in 1964 and known by the nickname “Chuy.” By the early 1970s, he was inspired to follow in his father’s footsteps as a violinist. After school each day, “I would get my violin, my records, and practice into the night,” he recalls. He started his own group with his brothers and friends, rehearsed them, and took up the guitarrón and vihuela (bass and rhythm guitars, respectively) as well as the violin.
As a young man, Chuy moved to Tijuana, playing in the restaurant Carnitas Uruapan, known for decades as the home of the best mariachi music of the region. There in 1984 and 1985, he experienced one of the most intense learning opportunities that mariachi culture offers: playing ten to seventeen hours a day in the demanding musical setting known as al talón (from talón, “heel,” referring to walking from customer to customer). Successful talón musicians must know by memory a repertoire of literally thousands of pieces, since they get paid for playing requests. Put simply, if musicians don’t know a song requested by a customer, they don’t get paid. It’s a powerful incentive to build repertoire.
At Carnitas Uruapan, Chuy played violin with his regular group from noon to about 10 p.m., and often would sit in with the other house mariachi which took over at 10 and played until the customers left, usually at 4 or 5 a.m. He estimates that on a long work day, he would play about 150 pieces.
“It was like a train runs over you, but it was beautiful experience, an experience spending time with two very beloved groups there in Tijuana.”
Along the way, he took up the fourth of the four main mariachi instruments—the trumpet—to fill in when a trumpet player couldn’t show up or needed a break. Chuy forged his impressive musical skills in the two major “conservatories” of mariachi culture: the family and al talón.
His rigorous training prepared him well for the next chapter of his musical life. He knew of Mariachi Los Camperos who lived and worked across the border in Los Angeles. Camperos leader Nati Cano would occasionally stop by the restaurant. Chuy was determined to become a member of the group, and in 1986 he relocated to Los Angeles to be near them. He would often stop by Los Camperos’ restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard, La Fonda de Los Camperos, to admire the group. When he inquired about joining them, the disappointing answer was that there were no musician jobs available because there were already thirteen musicians in the group—large for a mariachi.
Instead, Chuy joined Mariachi Los Galleros, led by Pedro Hernández. For the next three years, he played in Hernández’s dinner theater restaurant, El Rey, in Montebello, east of downtown Los Angeles. His patience paid off. Pedro’s brother Chencho Hernández, a renowned trumpet player with Los Camperos, told him that the sudden death of one of the Camperos members created an opening, and that he had convinced Cano that Chuy was right for the job. In 1989, Cano invited Chuy to join his group, and over the next twenty-five years, his education continued as Cano’s apprentice, disciple, and, eventually, his musical director.
Under Cano’s guidance, Chuy honed another of his skills: music arranging. He remembers how Cano would tell him, “‘Look for simplicity. The song is already there. Look for a touch-up,’ he would say. ‘Why are you going to put a thousand notes into it? It’s as if you were to put five paintings one on top of the other. No, no, no. It gets in the way.’ Sometimes, because of wanting to make something grander, we clash with the song. If something is beautiful, why would one saturate it with a thousand notes? It’s better to just give it a touch-up so that the essence, the charm of the song can come out.”
By 1992, Guzmán was arranging pieces for Los Camperos, and his skill grew rapidly. His creativity was key to the GRAMMY-nominated Smithsonian Folkways albums ¡Llegaron Los Camperos! (2005) and Tradición, Arte y Pasión (2015), and GRAMMY winner Amor, Dolor y Lágrimas: Música Ranchera (2008) and De Ayer Para Siempre: Musica Ranchera (2020).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s always tough. When you have goals you always do what you need to do to get it done. My goal was always to be a part of Mariachi Los Camperos. To be even come to California from Mexico had its challenges and sacrifices, for me it was my Family. I had to take steps in being a part of other groups to eventually get to where I really wanted to be. Everything has its challenges.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I direct a Mariachi ensemble of 12 members doing what I love which is Mariachi Music. I write and interpret Mariachi music with love, passion and dedication. Giving it all of my time to make it stand out as an art form not just to play a song.
I am known for my humbleness, I sympathize with people, my colleagues place me among the best Mariachi Musicians in the world and I am the Musical director of Mariachi Los Camperos.
I am proud of having the position that I currently have and have made my goal and dream a reality. I have played along with the best Mariachi musicians in the world. I have had the privilege of performing along with many world known artist and I have traveled around the world.
I am privileged to be a part of one of the best Mariachi’s in the world. I love and respect the music.
I think that what sets me apart is my patience, my dedication, my humbleness, my passion, always giving it my all, I am always willing to give a hand to those that ask for help. God has given me this path, the skills and character to do so.
What does success mean to you?
Success for me Is always unreachable. I believe that you get satisfaction when getting to your goal but as your journey continues your goals change and there fore success also changes to a higher standard. You will always find something more to your goal, you never want comfort bur rather always reach for higher goals or achievements.
The road to success is always under construction.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mariachiloscamperos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mlcamperos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mlcamperos
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JesusGuzman-cd8no
Image Credits
Jesús Guzmán Jr
