Neto's Tucson: Mariachi Cobre holding auditions, and I'm so there

I’m auditioning for a new job this week. I wanna be a mariachi.

But not just any mariachi. I’m going to try out for a spot with Tucson-born Mariachi Cobre. It’s been a lifelong dream to stand on the stage with one of the best mariachi groups in the world, hands down.

“But can you play an instrument and sing?” asked Stephen Carrillo, a founding member of Mariachi Cobre.

No, I answered. Let’s not sweat the small details, I added.

I told Carrillo that in my fantasy, I am side by side with the musicos, nattily dressed in a classic black suit known as traje de charro, the short-waisted jacket, tight pants adorned with glittery decorative metal buttons along the pant leg, short boots, a bright red bow, and, of course, my sombrero.

No one will ever accuse me of being a fashionista, but when it comes to mariachi wear I can dress to the nines.

It’s a dream and dreams do come true, Disney says, but Carrillo told me this one may be a stretch.

“If you sing, if you play the violin or rhythm, that’s a big part of it,” he said over the telephone. The sound of his voice suggested I stay in my current job.

I have until Wednesday to learn to play an instrument and to sing like Javier Solis when Carrillo will hold auditions in Tucson for openings in the famed ensemble. He’ll be joined by a representative of Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, where Mariachi Cobre has been performing seven shows a day, five days a week for 36 years. Auditions will also be held in Las Vegas, and McAllen and El Paso, Texas, rich grounds for talented musicians seeking to join the ranks of the mariachi elite.

Mariachi Cobre, a Tucson treasure born in 1971, is undergoing personnel changes.

Recently, violinist Mack Ruiz, an original member of Cobre, retired, said Carrillo. Soon to leave the group will be Arturo Pasalagua, of Mexico City, who also plays the violin and sings.

“We’re looking for two violins and two voices, one a tenor and the other a tenor/baritone,” said Carrillo. “They’re very hard to find.”

And by the end of the year there will be a major change in the group: Randy Carrillo, founder and director who sings and plays the large, round bass guitar, the guitarrón, will retire, said his younger brother, Steve.

With the departure of the elder Carrillo, Steve will remain as the last founding member of the group, which will celebrate 48 years in January. But he’s not going anywhere any time soon.

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“I truly enjoy playing. It’s the passion in my life,” he said.

Cobre’s genesis was Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson, generally considered the first youth mariachi group in Tucson and in the country. The Carrillo brothers and Ruiz were early members of the group. The Changuitos became a sensation locally. Within a few years the Changuitos were traveling to other U.S. cities. They appeared on television here and in Mexico, and performed at the inaugural of President Richard M. Nixon in 1969 in Washington, D.C., and for Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz.

Two years later Cobre was created as a professional group, which included the Carrillo brothers, Ruiz, musical arranger Frank Grijalva, Ruben Moreno, Fred Tarazon, Gilbert Velez and Jim Acuña. The group performed in Tucson and elsewhere, quickly gaining fame. It recorded an album at Lee Furr Studio in Tucson in 1974, and in 1982, Cobre moved to Florida as the main entertainment attraction at the Mexican Pavilion at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center.

Since then it has recorded several albums and has performed worldwide, including with more than 40 symphonies in the U.S. and Mexico. It has performed and recorded with the Boston Pops Symphony and with Tucsonense Linda Ronstadt.

As mariachi pioneers, Cobre’s stature is heads and shoulders above its peers, here and in Mexico. But its lasting legacy will be the mariachi conference concept.

In 1981, Cobre attended a mariachi festival in San Antonio, Texas, and won the competition. There it performed with and impressed Mexico City’s renowned Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, considered the granddaddy of today’s mariachis. It is considered the first mariachi conference but Cobre believed it could be done better elsewhere.

Cobre in 1983 helped launch the Tucson International Mariachi Conference under the auspices of La Frontera Center, a local mental-health agency. But more than a festival, the conference developed a strong educational component. Over the years thousands of budding mariachis have attended the Tucson event every April to learn under the direction of master mariachis, like Cobre, Vargas and Los Camperos of Los Angeles.

“Today many schools across the country have mariachi curriculum,” said Steve Carrillo.

He said the future of Cobre is strong. New members will bring freshness and energy to the group, which will continue to perform at EPCOT, Carrillo said. Future Cobre members will emerge from the mariachi conferences, he added.

And you can be sure Tucsonans will be part of Cobre. Alex Garcia Jr., who played with Los Changuitos Feos, is expected to be Cobre’s next guitarrón player.

I see a bright future for the group and for me. I asked again. Can I audition?

Carrillo hesitated. He didn’t say no but he didn’t say yes. Instead he said, “We’ll find a place for you.”

I’m in!