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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Michael When you walk through our Mexican neighborhood "Mission" just around the corner from us, you often hear a kind of oom-pah music coming from passing cars or open apartment windows, which is not unlike German folk music. If you look closer, these are just regular people who enjoy this seemingly totally crazy music. You never know! I thought that kind of thing only existed in Germany at the Musikantenstadel TV show.
Recently, we were at a Spanish restaurant in the Mission District, and just as we were about to order, three Mexicans in traditional costumes came in. One had a guitar, another an accordion, and the third a bass guitar (compare to the German song "Three Chinese with the Double Bass"). After briefly asking the owner for permission and receiving it, the three began their loud Humpa-Dumpa music. I turned on my digital recorder to document the scene as the waitress came to take our order. And so today, you get to enjoy a rarity, an MP3 of ordering dinner in a Mexican restaurant with polka music playing in the background.
Americans usually call Mexican musicians "mariachis," not knowing that the musicians in the San Francisco Mission are mostly "jarochos." While mariachis wear round sombreros and play with trumpets and violins, jarochos wear cowboy hats and mostly play bass, guitar, and accordion. So, if you hear lyrics like "See the vegetable man / In the vegetable van / With a horn that's honking / Like a mariachi band" by the well-known rock musician Beck going forward, you'll know the difference.
Apropos Beck: He not only recently performed at Yahoo in front of the cafeteria, but, a few years ago, in the cheap but good taqueria around the corner. Unfortunately, we missed the surprise event, and apparently most of the guests didn't even recognize Beck, as they were into Humpa-Dumpa music and busy devouring the store's legendary tasty burritos!
Always up close with the stars:
Angelika and Michael
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