Don’t miss the two-time Grammy award-winning band Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano and Spanish music star Shaila Dúrcal at Inn of the Mountain Gods.
Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano
The Los Angeles-based group was formed in 1961 by Natividad “Nati” Cano. He was instrumental in the training and mentoring of a new generation of mariachi musicians in the United States. Nati was a visionary leader who wanted to take mariachi bands from small cantinas to the big stage, so more people could enjoy the music.
Over Nati’s lifetime, Mariachi Los Camperos performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Theater and many more places where mariachi bands had never performed before. In 1969, he opened the first-ever Mariachi Dine and Show at “La Fonda Casa de Los Camperos,” which has become an iconic Los Angeles landmark. Today, mariachi restaurants all over the world are modeled after La Fonda.
Nati died in 2014 and the baton was passed to the group’s longtime musical director, Jesus “Chuy” Guzman. Under his direction, Mariachi Los Camperos released the 2015 Grammy-nominated musicial tribute to Nati called Tradición, Arte, y Pasión.
Over the years, Mariachi Los Camperos has continued to preserve the richness and culture of the mariachi traditions and to influence a new generation of mariachi musicians throughout the world.
Shaila Dúrcal
Spanish singer and songwriter Shaila Dúrcal is the daughter of Rocio Dúrcal and Antonio Morales, both towering figures in Spanish music. From the age of three, it became clear that Shaila had the talent and desire to follow in her parents’ footsteps. She made her television debut signing with Nikka Costa on the program Noches at 12 years old. She studied voice in Madrid until the age of 17 when her mother, Rocio, invited Shaila to accompany her on her tour. At her mother’s side, she traveled all over Latin America, the States and Europe, learning not only her mother’s repertoire but how to read and react to an audience.
Eventually, she struck out on her own as a solo artist and relocated to Mexico to record her debut album. Halfway through production, her mother died unexpectedly. Shalia dedicated her album to her mother in honor of her life as both a person and a musician. Recordando, Shaila’s reworking of Rocio’s more popular repertoire, came out in February of 2007 and was followed in 2008 by Tanto Amor. The singer’s 2009 album, Corazon Ranchero, proved a first as it charted higher in Mexico than it did in Spain and was followed in 2011 by her fifth album, Asi.