by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
The first time Steven Chavez saw a Mexican marimba was in 1980.
Now, the experienced folk musician owns 33 marimbas from around the world and different eras. A marimba is a percussion instrument typically associated with folk music. It has several keys which are struck by mallets in order to produce sound.
"I went to Chiapas (Mexico) where they create them," Chavez said. "I have the whole family of marimbas from around the world."
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Chavez and John Bartlit of the New Mexican Marimba Band performed for the 2nd Annual Mexican Traditional Medicine Fair with a Mexican buzz marimba that looked like a giant wooden xylophone.
Eleanor Sanchez, office manager of University Communication and Marketing, booked Chavez for the event.
"I asked him to because he plays the best marimba in New Mexico," said Sanchez.
Both UNM alumni, Bartlit met Chavez when he was a student in UNM's music department.
"He's older than I, but he would show up at concerts," Bartlit said. "He was very involved with the students."
Bartlit joined the marimba band when Chavez was looking for alternates.
"Steve created this whole job," Bartlit said. "He fell in love with the traditional Mexican style. He single-handedly brought it north of the border."
Bartlit said Chavez taught him about Guatemalan and Mexican folk music. He said the Mexican buzz marimba is an evolution of an older style.
"It's interesting," Bartlit said. "The buzz part comes from Africa, when the slaves came over. They couldn't bring anything with them, so they used materials from the new world to make their instruments."
Bartlit describes the evolution of the instrument and South American style music as a blending of cultures.
"The scale comes from Europe," he said. "A lot of Mexican music was inspired by German and Polish immigrants. Polkas and rancheras are related to this music."
Chavez said he uses music to explore the different cultures and take him to another place.
"You immerse yourself and visualize yourself in a different country," he said. "I get hypnotized by them. While I'm playing, I picture I'm in that country playing for that tribe. I can pretend that I am there."
Chavez, who has collected marimbas for years, said they are traditionally made by marimba families who specialize in creating the instrument. However, present generations of the families have gone into different careers.
"They are hard to find," he said. "You buy one, and it's trial and error. Some of them own the plans and measurements but don't know how to put them together."
Fortunately for Chavez, the instrument - which usually runs about $4,000, plus another $5,000 to bring it into the United States because it cannot be shipped - sometimes is available for a low cost on eBay.
"The cheapest one I found was $12.50," Chavez said. "They didn't know what it was. It's from Africa with bullhorns. I knew exactly what it was, and it was worth thousands of dollars."
