Cipriano Frederico Vigil is the most important performer of traditional Nuevomexicano folk music in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This bilingual panoramic book presents the songs that are his life’s work, spanning half a century of listening, playing, composing, and singing ritual, social, and dance music. New Mexican Folk Music includes much traditional material that has never been seen before or studied by scholars or students. Renowned as a composer, Vigil works in traditional genres such as the romance, the décima, the cuando, and corrido. Like the Mexican group Los Folkloristas with which he apprenticed in the late 1970s, his goal has been to research and master local styles, to introduce new listeners to traditional music, and to build on tradition by creating new compositions that address contemporary social themes. An audio CD accompanies this comprehensive study on the work and music of Cipriano Frederico Vigil.

This bilingual panoramic book presents the songs that are the life's work of Cipriano Frederico Vigil, the most important performer of traditional Nuevomexicano folk music in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Manuel Romeros’ exhaustive research of the lives of his mother and father unearth a detailed and panoramic vision of Northern New Mexican history. But it is the Romero/Madrid family story that is the centerpiece of the volume. Their unbreakable bonds and lasting community will stay with the reader long after all the pages are turned.” – Governor Bill Richardson “The soul of the book is found in Manuel Romero’s reflections on his childhood in northern New Mexico and later, the Salt Lake Valley and through his personal experiences and observations. “Mi America: The Evolution of An American Family” was not only a delight to read but also provides a vivid and insightful understanding of this significant culture.” - Jim Bradley, Salt Lake County Council Member Mi America, his well-chronicled family journey ---from Spain to Mexico to New Mexico to Utah---is an important contribution to the history of America and the significant impact made by Nuevomejcanos over hundreds of years. Readers will be informed, uplifted and inspired---The Honorable Mickey Ibarra. “Mí América is a family history warmly placed in context—context of place and (Spain to Mexico to New Mexico), of culture, of religion, of language, of commitment to service. Engaging and inspirational.”—Former U.S. Senator Fred Harris, University of New Mexico Professor Emeritus of Political Science. The new book, Mi América: The Evolution of an American Family explores the history of the author’s own quintessential yet unique Mexican American family. The book is a major accomplishment for a Chicano Civil Rights activist, civic leader, non-profit executive, and professor. If you listen closely, you can hear the strains of alabados in the background blended with “Europa” by Carlos Santana. Dr. Theresa Martínez, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Utah.

Latino folklore comprises a kaleidoscope of cultural traditions. This compelling three-volume work showcases its richness, complexity, and beauty. Latino folklore is a fun and fascinating subject to many Americans, regardless of ethnicity. Interest in—and celebration of—Latin traditions such as Día de los Muertos in the United States is becoming more common outside of Latino populations. Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions provides a broad and comprehensive collection of descriptive information regarding all the genres of Latino folklore in the United States, covering the traditions of Americans who trace their ancestry to Mexico, Spain, or Latin America. The encyclopedia surveys all manner of topics and subject matter related to Latino folklore, covering the oral traditions and cultural heritage of Latin Americans from riddles and dance to food and clothing. It covers the folklore of 21 Latin American countries as these traditions have been transmitted to the United States, documenting how cultures interweave to enrich each other and create a unique tapestry within the melting pot of the United States.

Through the study of a large variety of musical practices from the U.S.-Mexico border, Transnational Encounters seeks to provide a new perspective on the complex character of this geographic area. By focusing not only on norteña, banda or conjunto musics (the most stereotypical musical traditions among Hispanics in the area) but also engaging a number of musical practices that have often been neglected in the study of this border's history and culture (indigenous musics, African American musical traditions, pop musics), the authors provide a glance into the diversity of ethnic groups that have encountered each other throughout the area's history. Against common misconceptions about the U.S.-Mexico border as a predominant Mexican area, this book argues that it is diversity and not homogeneity which characterizes it. From a wide variety of disciplinary and multidisciplinary enunciations, these essays explore the transnational connections that inform these musical cultures while keeping an eye on their powerful local significance, in an attempt to redefine notions like "border," "nation," "migration," "diaspora," etc. Looking at music and its performative power through the looking glass of cultural criticism allows this book to contribute to larger intellectual concerns and help redefine the field of U.S.-Mexico border studies beyond the North/South and American/Mexican dichotomies. Furthermore, the essays in this book problematize some of the widespread misconceptions about U.S.-Mexico border history and culture in the current debate about immigration.

Each song appears both in Spanish and English. For many, transcriptions of the musical notations are provided as well as graphic illustrations of dance technique.

First published in 1980 and now available only from the University of New Mexico Press, this classic compilation of New Mexico folk music is based on thirty-five years of field research by a giant of modern music. Composer John Donald Robb, a passionate aficionado of the traditions of his adopted state, traveled New Mexico recording and transcribing music from the time he arrived in the Southwest in 1941.