Being a Mexican vocalist isn't necessarily synonymous with performing regional Mexican music; there are countless singers in Mexico who specialize in Latin pop or rock en español rather than ranchera, mariachi, banda, norteño, duranguense, or tierra caliente. However, there have been examples of Mexican singers who have devoted most of their time to the Latin pop market but have occasionally dabbled in regional Mexican music;
Luis Miguel is a good example (his mariachi/ranchera album
México en la Piel is superb), and so is
Rocío Banquells. Although
Banquells is best known for romantic Latin pop, she can be a fine mariachi/ranchera vocalist when she wants to.
Banquells joined forces with the long-running
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán on one of her early releases, and she also enjoys mariachi accompaniment on this memorable live CD. In May 2008, Machete Music released
Nací Para Ti: Rancheras ("I Was Born for You: Ranchera Songs") and another live CD
Nací Para Ti: Baladas ("I Was Born for You: Ballads") simultaneously. The latter focused on romantic Latin pop, but a mariachi/ranchera perspective prevails on
Nací Para Ti: Rancheras -- and
Banquells soars as a mariachi/ranchera singer on passionate performances of "La Mujer Ladina" and the familiar "Cucurrucucu Paloma." Another high point of this disc is the standard "La Puerta Negra," which is closely identified with the late
Antonio Aguilar but was also a major hit for
los Tigres del Norte. Arguably,
Banquells' arrangement sort of bridges the gap between
Aguilar's mariachi version (he originally recorded the song as a slow mariachi ballad, although he subsequently provided a fast banda version) and
los Tigres del Norte's norteño version;
Banquells favors mariachi instrumentation over norteño instrumentation, but her version is as fast and energetic as
los Tigres'. This rewarding CD makes one wish that
Banquells would be heard in a mariachi/ranchera environment more often. ~ Alex Henderson