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Each Mariachi Has Its Own Corner On The Market.
We were across the street from the zocalo with some of our language school’s students having la cena, a late and light dinner, and the mariachis were…
milling around. All together there were nine or so of them. They chatted with each other and played a few notes now and them.
They put on their jackets and after a while took them off again only to put them back on. They sat in their old sedan or on it or on the sidewalk.
They never looked at their watches, and they waited.
They wait for someone to come by and take them to a party. It’s all impromptu. A couple of groups have long park benches on the landscaped divider in Diaz Miron Blvd. Some groups walk the tables in the zocalo selling songs for a little cash flow while waiting to be needed.
You can always book a group in advance—they like that. You can call then (someone always has a cellphone), and they’ll be right over. But most fun of all is to go to their corner on the market, or to their bench on the boulevard and make a deal.
Get a price before you take them to your party, and pay them only after they’re all done. Unpaid musicians sing sweeter and louder, the locals tell us.
Eric Langner January 14, 2007 06:38 PM