To Hear Mexican Ballads, Take the D Train - NYTimes

[Q85Rosedale]

Luis Tigre boarded the uptown D train with two

colleagues one recent morning to go to work.

But unlike the other commuters on board, the

three had already reached their job.

 

As the doors closed, Mr. Tigre — a cowboy hat on his head, crocodile-skin boots on his feet

and a bejeweled accordion strapped to his

torso — scanned the car for police officers. Seeing none, he shot a glance to cue his

friends, who positioned their hands on their

guitars and leapt into a popular Mexican ballad

that describes a Salvadoran immigrant’s struggle to reach the United States. “I knew I would need more than courage; I knew that I might not make it,” Mr. Tigre sang in Spanish as the men squeezed a jaunty,

polka-like melody from their instruments. There are three borders that I had to cross. By way of three countries I made my way

undocumented. Three times I had to risk my life. The workday was in full swing. Mr. Tigre’s group, Fuerza Norteña del Tigre — the Northern Force of the Tiger — is part of a growing community of Mexican musicians in

New York’s subways. They mostly play norteño music, a genre that originated in the

Texas-Mexico borderlands and is wildly

popular in Mexico and wherever Mexicans

migrate. Recognizable by their cowboy hats and their

emotive, boisterous corridos — songs of love, loss and the immigrant experience — these bands are a bold manifestation of Mexican

culture in a city where much of that population

spends long days toiling in obscurity, behind

the closed doors of restaurant kitchens and the

high fences of construction sites. “On the surface, Mexicans are a very discreet presence,” said Gaspar Orozco, a poet and Mexican consul in New York who was a

director of “Subterraneans,” a documentary, last year about the subway musicians. “But in the underground, they explode with all this

vital energy, with all this bravado, with all this

pride of being Mexican musicians.” Mr. Orozco recalled his first norteño

experience in the subway. “It was like a punk music attack,” he said. “Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Then they pass the hat and go to the next car.” The brashness of the groups goes beyond their

sound. They are also breaking the law. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rules of conduct include an array of regulations

that could, and often do, snag the bands,

including a prohibition on playing musical

instruments on subway trains. Fines, often $75 each, are a regular part of the

job, several musicians said. So is detention,

often involving an overnight stay in jail and

sometimes a punishment of community

service, if rarely anything more severe than

that. For those in the United States illegally, civil violations like those are usually not

enough to prompt a check of immigration status. But even though $75 is a good day’s earnings on the subway, the musicians seem to regard

these penalties as tolerable occupational

hazards. “Our babies have to eat something; we have to eat something,” Mr. Tigre, 41, who is divorced and has three American-born children, said

with a shrug. “If I had a steady job, I wouldn’t play in the train.” The groups’ growth has paralleled the rising number of Mexicans in New York and the

surging popularity of norteño music. A decade ago, the musicians say, there were

only a few norteño bands plying the subway

system. By the estimates of several players,

there are now at least 15, though nobody is

sure of the exact number because the groups

are continually forming, changing members and dissolving. Their paths usually cross only underground, in

quick, joking encounters that allow them to

swap gossip and information about police

sightings. Formed by Mr. Tigre in 1995, Fuerza Norteña

is one of the more established groups, at least

in name. His lineup has changed many times,

as members have joined other combos, landed

full-time jobs or returned to Mexico. Unlike many subway norteño musicians who

played professionally in Mexico, Mr. Tigre

learned to play after arriving in New York City.

He grew up in Piaxtla, a rural village in the

central Mexican state of Puebla. He dropped

out of school when he was 10 to work on a cattle ranch, then came to New York in 1986,

joining two older brothers and a sister who had

settled there. Mr. Tigre worked in restaurants

for years as a line cook or cleaner. In 1990, his eldest brother taught him to play

the accordion, a mainstay of norteño music,

and he soon learned all the norteño standards,

which fuse traditional Mexican styles like the

ranchera with the polka and waltz rhythms

carried to Mexico by German and Czech immigrants in the 19th century.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/nyregion/12bands.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

[Donald]

I hate people who play music on the trains. Talk about a captive audience. When I become a C/R and hear them in my car, I swear I will put an end to it the second I hear a musical instrument. For years these clowns have given me headaches with their loud music and I will put an end to it one day.

[Roadcruiser1]

I don't think musical instruments suck. I have had been playing the guitar. Once you play an instrument you would fall in love with it. The problem is it would annoy the hell out of commuters on the NYC Subway. It seems more fit for a place in Central Park, and Coney Island with a lot of people then on a small subway car.

[Donald]

There is also a mariachi band that plays on the 7 a lot. So annoying. As soon as they get in my car I quickly run to the next one. They might be the same ones who play on the D, but I am not sure.

[Gorgor]

This is newsworthy?

[TrainFanatic]

The problem is it would annoy the hell out of commuters on the NYC Subway. It seems more fit for a place in Central Park, and Coney Island with a lot of people then on a small subway car.

 

More like Central Park since it's a calm and relaxing environment - perfect combo for a date. CI would be to live and noisy.

 

As for me, I don't mind the music unless I'm trying to have a conversation. The sounds that come out of the instruments they play sound very soothing.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

There is also a mariachi band that plays on the 7 a lot. So annoying. As soon as they get in my car I quickly run to the next one. They might be the same ones who play on the D, but I am not sure.

 

They do that sh*t purposely too. They wait until the doors close then go to the middle of the car to subject everyone to their f*cking noise. Between them, the panhandlers, the kids pushing their candy and the guys doing cartwheels and sh*t and those stupid automated announcements, I don't know what's worse. :mad: As soon as I see them coming I go into the next car. I just want a quiet ride. Not asking too much.

[trainfan22]

Dudes was playing Micheal Jackson "Lets dance lets shout" in Jazz @ Union Square station tonight, epic!

[Roadcruiser1]

I think the NYC Subway needs quiet cars for those people that want silence.

[TrainFanatic]

I think the NYC Subway needs quiet cars for those people that want silence.

 

Elaborate.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I think the NYC Subway needs quiet cars for those people that want silence.

 

They should be barred, period. The subway is for riding to and from a destination, not panhandling. :mad:

[IRT Bronx Express]

 

I think the NYC Subway needs quiet cars for those people that want silence.

Isn't the subway already noisy, even without musical instruments?

[Roadcruiser1]

I think that silent cars might work. The experiment on NJ transit worked. Who said it won't work on the NYC Subway. They would just have the words quiet car on top of the doors, and if they make a lot of noise they owe a fine of 50 cents, and this would help support the .

[Gorgor]

I think that silent cars might work. The experiment on NJ transit worked. Who said it won't work on the NYC Subway. They would just have the words quiet car on top of the doors, and if they make a lot of noise they owe a fine of 50 cents, and this would help support the .

 

Fine of 50 cents, really that's it? If that then I'd gladly go in a silent car with my friend and pay 50 cents just to be able to talk to each other without our voices being drowned out by the other riders talking.

[Roadcruiser1]

Actually you would be allowed to talk in silent cars. Just as long as you are whispering it, and you don't disturb other riders.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Actually you would be allowed to talk in silent cars. Just as long as you are whispering it, and you don't disturb other riders.

 

If people had common sense this wouldn't be an issue. I'm just wondering if panhandling has always been an issue on the subway and why it exists on the subway as opposed to the bus?

[Gorgor]

If people had common sense this wouldn't be an issue. I'm just wondering if panhandling has always been an issue on the subway and why it exists on the subway as opposed to the bus?

 

In a bus the driver can see everyone in the bus, and on the subway the conductor and motormen can't see anyone on the actual train.

[Roadcruiser1]

Hey at least it isn't like the robberies that use to take place in the NYC Subway that took place in the 1980's, and early 1990's. Gangs use to come onto trains, and walk from car to car stealing people's money. I rather have those panhandlers then that.

[Forest Glen]

I wish I could simply have a drama-free ride without Mexican performers, break dancers, panhandlers, or preachers. All I want to do on the subway is read the paper or sleep.

[Cait Sith]

Actually you would be allowed to talk in silent cars. Just as long as you are whispering it, and you don't disturb other riders.

 

Do you realize that this is New York City you are talking about? The city that never shuts the **** up? I dont see this plan working at all for the NYC Subway to be honest. You are comparing two different environments, the railroad environment vs the subway environment and thats like comparing Apples to Oranges...The railroad environment would be much more settled and controlled. You can't silence or quiet down the subway and that is a well known fact....

[4P3607]

These moron Mexican Ballads have woken me up 5 seperate times on subway trips. :mad:

[Joel Up Front]

I think that silent cars might work. The experiment on NJ transit worked. Who said it won't work on the NYC Subway. They would just have the words quiet car on top of the doors, and if they make a lot of noise they owe a fine of 50 cents, and this would help support the .

 

Because over 10 million people ride the subway a day, and you'd have a better chance of Jesus Christ coming down from heaven and break dancing to a Michael Jackson song than for that to ever fly in the city that never sleeps.