Jose Hernandez aims to dispel to notion that ‘mariachi’ means five fat guys playing passable Mexican music in a bar. The world-renowned musician formed the 14-member Mariachi Sol de Mexico and acts as the director of the Las Vegas International Mariachi Festival. Featuring Hernandez’s band, as well as Mariachi Cobre, Ritmo Latino and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, the Las Vegas festival is one of the top showcases of traditional Mexican music in the world. Transcending the stereotype, talented mariachi bands have incorporated pop, jazz and swing into their repertoire, always taking the sound back to its Mexican origins.
