Original subtitles

(lively guitar music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

(Martha speaks Spanish)

(continues singing)

(Martha singing in Spanish)

(music continues)

(speaking Spanish)

(crowd chattering)

(music ends)

Good evening, everyone. Good evening.

Hi. Welcome.

Hello.

(audience cheering)

Hi, everybody. My name is Kabir Sehgal.

I'm the executive producer of "Fandango at the Wall."

This is my mentor and colleague Arturo O'Farrill.

Everyone, Arturo O'Farrill.

(crowd cheering)

And this is Jorge Francisco Castillo.

Jorge is the inspiration for Fandango Fronterizo,

and its founder.

This project has taken us

to the US-Mexico border

and beyond to Veracruz, Mexico,

where we met the incredible son jarocho artists

who you will see tonight.

We recorded an album with them

and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in Tijuana

at the Fandango Fronterizo.

And now for the first time,

we're bringing that fandango here to New York.

-(applause) -(light guitar music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Arturo O'Farrill: Chico and Lupe are my mother and father

My father was a famous Afro-Cuban jazz composer.

Considered one of the architects

of Afro-Cuban Jazz.

We, had, um...

a big ceremony

when they unveiled the street sign

and we planned this concert

at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

And we had Wyn Marsalis and Paquito D'Rivera,

and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

We had, like, a sound system and a whole stage,

and it rained like crazy.

(peppy soft jazz music playing)

My mother was, uh,

brought to Nuevo Laredo, Texas, at the age of 12 to sing,

and she just kind of

was a child Mexican singer and, um...

From her I got this real sense of justice.

I got this real sense of what ought to be

and what is not right.

And this is kind of what happened

when I came upon this article,

uh, about Jorge Francisco Castillo

and about the whole concept of, um...

The whole concept of being an immigrant, being a Mexican.

Being...

a non...

Being not the member

of the dominant, uh, societal, uh, culture.

Kabir Sehgal: Arturo and I were having dinner together

and he said, "I came across this article in the newspaper."

So I said, "Let me see it." And I read it.

And it was about this, uh, festival

that happens at the border wall

between San Diego and Tijuana.

And all it said was there was this man

named Jorge Castillo

and he's a librarian.

And he puts on a festival called Fandango Fronterizo.

(seagulls squawking)

Jorge Francisco Castillo: This is the wall that I came to visit

for the first time in 2007.

And I saw some families on the other side.

And I remember a little boy handed me a bottle of water.

And shaking my hand.

And I was totally shocked by that action and...

immediately to my mind came the possibility

of having a fandango in this place.

I ended up starting, just to call

all the local libraries in... in San Diego.

And I finally found Jorge.

And then I asked him whether he would like

to join Arturo and me at the border

between the United States and Mexico

to record a live album inspired by what he started.

-Arturo: Welcome to Mexico. -Kabir: Mexico.

Arturo: México.

(indistinct chatter)

(inaudible)

(speaking Spanish)

(brass instrument playing scales)

Kabir: Welcome, everyone, to day number one

of "Fandango at the Wall."

This is an incredible project we're bringing together.

Probably 150 people to make a statement.

To make music, but really to, uh,

to dramatize what's going on in our countries.

To bring people and countries together.

Arturo: We're doing something that's never been done before.

And we're doing something that we hope will draw

all of us together

in a way that, um, nothing like music can.

Jorge: Bienvenidos. Welcome, everybody.

We're really honored to have all of you here.

Starting with Arturo and Kabir.

It's a real blessing

to have so many people in-- in Tijuana,

being part of the Fandango Fronterizo.

It's gonna be a great experience to play together

tomorrow at the-- at the wall.

And, uh, to be part of one family.

That's the whole idea.

I really... I'm really touched with this.

This is really amazing. It's very emotional.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, guys.

-(applause) -Thank you.

Thank you.

(soft piano and violin music playing)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(inaudible)

♪ ♪

(sizzling)

(speaking Spanish)

It's 40 feet from here,

is the US border.

-(indistinct chatter) -(laughter)

Abdul: No wall's gonna stop us, man.

-Man: No. -(laughter)

Down!

Abdul: Next year, the demilitarized zone.

Kabir: There's, like, 75,000 guns in Mexico

-that have been traced to America. -Arturo: Yeah.

-So the drugs are going this way. -Right, and the guns...

And the money and guns coming this way.

-Arturo: I know. -Kabir: And it's like this loop.

A vicious loop of drugs, people, money, all tied up.

And the addictions are right here.

(soft piano and violin music playing)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Kabir: Arturo.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Arturo: I walked up to the water

and I felt my mother's presence

on this project.

It's incredibly important to me

that people have been gathered

from every corner of the Earth to the border.

To New York. To Veracruz.

To San Diego. To Tijuana.

From Iran. From Iraq.

Uh, people who have never met

have gathered around this campfire

that we've built.

And I'm just really grateful that this is the way

my life's energy is being spent right now.

♪ ♪

(lively guitar music playing)

(Jorge singing in Spanish)

Jorge: I think I'm a free soul,

that I like to travel, I like to meet people.

And that's how son jarocho came to me.

I was going through a divorce

at that time, in-- in my life.

So, uh...

I was kinda like at a stage

where I didn't know where I was going

with the music, with the...

Well, a lot of things were happening.

My kids were growing up,

they were leaving the house.

And then son jarocho came to me

and, and brought me all these friends and people

and all this community.

And I fell in love with this music.

I just felt like, uh, it-it held me in its arms.

And it was hugging me all the time.

Even though I was born in Texas

and then raised in Juarez, Mexico,

and being in California and then Tijuana,

and connect all this music and all this

through this movement of the Fandango.

It's been one of the best experiences in my life.

Kabir: Jorge said to me, if you're gonna make an album

that features son jarocho music

you have to come to Veracruz and learn about this music

and meet the masters themselves.

So I said Arturo, "We're going to Veracruz."

♪ ♪

Arturo: Jacob was telling me...

that this is sacred magic land.

Jorge: Exactly.

Arturo: That little mystical creatures

called Pecheques or...

-Jorge: Chaneques. -Arturo: Chaneques.

-Jorge: Chaneques. -Chaneques.

And that this whole area is known

for mystical occurrences.

-Jorge: Sí. -And so, you...

Yeah, you come here and you kinda feel that.

You feel that there is something in the Earth here.

There's something in the air here that is--

I think you have some Chaneques within you, Arturo.

-I think-- -Jorge: Probably, we all do.

(laughter)

No, it's funny, now that I think of, at just this very moment,

I remember visiting my friend

in the University of Vermont.

And him giving me a whole rundown

of how the only place in Mexico

that really has Afro-Mexican music

is son jarocho in Veracruz.

And how the roots of son jarocho

and Afro-Mexican music is directly traced

to the, uh, the landing of slave ships here.

(Martha singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Martha speaking Spanish)

-(Arturo speaking Spanish) -(Chalo speaking Spanish)

-(Arturo speaking Spanish) -(Martha speaking Spanish)

-(Jorge speaks Spanish) -(Martha speaks Spanish)

Jorge: Don Andres is almost 90 years old,

and to me this, uh, icon.

He's one of the best son jarocho musicians.

(gentle melodica and guitar music playing)

♪ ♪

(chuckles)

(Tereso speaking Spanish)

(playing "El Cascabel," requinto guitar solo)

(music intensifies)

(melodica joins guitars)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaks Spanish)

(tapping feet rhythmically)

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

(Don Vega speaking Spanish)

(scratching hat)

(Martha speaking Spanish)

(laughter)

-(Don Vega speaking Spanish) -Sí, sí, sí.

(Martha speaking Spanish)

(rooster crows)

(soft requinto guitar music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Jorge: Martha is one of today's

most accomplished dancers.

Or like we say in son jarocho, zapateado.

Dancing is very important for son jarocho

'cause that's your percussion.

The dancer is the drummer.

(continues singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

Oh!

Ohh!

(laughter)

Do you want me to go get it?

No, it's okay.

(peppy melodica and guitar music playing)

(tapping feet rhythmically)

(singing in Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Jorge: Arturo.

(Jorge speaking Spanish)

(Arturo speaking Spanish)

-(Arturo speaking Spanish) -La tierra.

Exactly.

Kabir: Beautiful with the animals.

I just felt like I was in a...

not a postcard, but...

in a, like, a time capsule in a way.

Everyone in the kitchen yesterday making

-that best, amazing meal and those tortillas. -(Arturo sighs)

-Bro! What about those tortillas? -Oh, my God.

Those tortillas are, like, I don't know,

I can't get them out of my mind.

Bro, I don't think I'm ever...

Jorge, I don't think I'm ever gonna have a tortilla again.

Ever. Unless I come here.

(Jorge laughs)

Kabir: How often do you come now?

-You come like every year? -Oh, I...

I come like two or three times a year now.

And-- and I love it. Uh, I love it.

Although I try to avoid the summer.

-Kabir: Yeah. -(laughs)

(soft requinto guitar music playing)

(tapping feet rhythmically)

♪ ♪

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

Jorge: Ramon Gutierrez is one of the best requinto players.

And requinto is the lead guitar of the son jarocho.

He likes to improvise a lot.

So, I think he will be perfect for this encounter

with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

at the Fandango Fronterizo.

(Ramon speaking Spanish)

(son jarocho music playing)

♪ ♪

(vocalizing)

(singing in Spanish)

(Ramon speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(daughter singing in Spanish)

(vocalizing)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(up-tempo leona guitar music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

Jorge: The leona is the bass of son jarocho.

And Tacho is an accomplished leona player.

One of the best.

And Wendy is fantastic with the quijada,

a percussive instrument also known as the jawbone.

(speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(peppy music playing)

(Tacho speaking Spanish)

(voice breaking)

(exhales)

(speaking Spanish)

(Wendy speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(up-tempo music playing)

(peppy music playing)

(music intensifies)

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

-(music ends) -(applause)

(barking)

(speaking Spanish)

Jorge: Patricio Hidalgo, one of the best musicians

in modern son jarocho

and at the same time he is like a mentor to me.

And he motivated me to be part of this music.

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(laughter)

(Arturo speaking Spanish)

(Patricio speaks Spanish)

-(Arturo speaks Spanish) -(Patricio speaks Spanish)

-(clangs) -(all gasp)

(playing notes)

(speaks Spanish)

(music continues)

(laughter)

(plays notes)

(plays notes)

(Yatzil speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(peppy music playing)

(ululating sounds)

(singing in Spanish)

(upbeat orchestral music playing)

(clarinet solo)

(percussion joins orchestra)

(tapping feet rhythmically)

♪ ♪

(man whoops)

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

-(music ends) -(applause)

(strumming guitar)

Jorge: Fernando Guadarrama is a great poet.

In son jarocho, the decima is like a poem of ten lines.

Fernando will improvise.

Improvising on the spot is not easy.

And he is one of the best,

so I thought he will be a perfect match

for the Fandango Fronterizo.

(singing in Spanish)

(continues singing)

(Fernando speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Fernando speaking Spanish)

(soft guitar music playing)

(inaudible)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(music continues)

(cheering)

(upbeat orchestral music playing)

(tapping feet rhythmically)

(Fernando speaking Spanish)

(audience cheering)

(audience cheering)

♪ ♪

(audience cheering)

-(music ends) -(applause)

(cheering)

Kabir: One of the things I really like about the borderlands

is that people who grow up in the borderlands

grow up speaking two languages,

and America is one of the few places in the world

that if you speak one language,

you're considered well educated.

-Jorge: No matter where you are. -Yeah.

Jorge: That's true.

Kabir: And so, when you talk about

the kinda world we're living in,

we're increasingly living together.

We can communicate with anyone online.

Being able to speak different languages.

We all come from kinda different...

We're kinda like hyphenated Americans, right?

I'm an Indian American.

You're a Mexican Irish American.

Jorge here, bi...

Bi-national, right? Mexican American.

And so being a hyphenated American,

I think is increasingly the future

because Hispanics are gonna be

the largest minority majority group in America,

if not they're... if they aren't already.

And it just...

the sooner you encounter people who are different from you,

it prepares you for the world.

Do you think that there should be no border wall?

Yeah, I-I think, uh...

There should be no wall?

There should be no wall.

Do you want the wall to go away?

I think it's a meaningless...

Your book states the statistics...

-Kabir: Right. But-- -That... No.

Your book states the statistics

that most of the illegal immigration

is visa overstays.

It takes place through border points.

That most of the drugs go through border points.

The wall is ineffective.

It has been ineffective. It will...

If you can make it profitable to be peaceful,

that's the way to do it.

When you... When you...

When you have to rely on someone

to get a part of an automobile

or you're part of the supply chain, like...

Arturo: That's good business, yeah.

You make it profitable to do work with each other.

In Atlanta, where I'm from,

blacks and whites do joint business deals together,

they bid on contracts.

When you work with someone, you don't wanna kill 'em.

You wanna make money together.

So I say, how do we make this borderland community?

How do we bring more industry there

and do cross-border factories?

-Cross-border commerce. -Jorge: But--

Cross-border trade.

-But think about-- -Really across border.

But if it's... if it's equal

then-- then it'll work.

(speaking Spanish)

(strumming guitar)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(singing continues)

(vocalizing)

(strumming oud)

Rahim Alhaj: My story goes right to that matter

because I escaped...

Iraq in 1991

to Jordan with false travel document.

And, uh, crossing

another border to Syria,

to Damascus.

-(vocalizing) -(strumming oud)

(singing in foreign language)

As an Iranian person, I've been in that situation.

But in my country,

I'm as a Baha'i, that I practice

another religion, not Muslim.

I wasn't able to go to university

for higher education after high school.

So I came to the United States to just have

um, I mean, better situation

for studying and introducing my culture.

(soft orchestral music playing)

(Patricio singing in Spanish)

(singing continues)

(singing continues)

(singing continues)

(singing continues)

(singing continues)

(strumming intensifies)

-(music ends) -(applause and cheers)

Kabir: You're saying we can only drive during the day?

We shouldn't drive at night?

-Jorge: In this land? -Kabir: Yeah.

Jorge: Yeah, it-- unfortunately,

these days it has become very, very unsecure.

What's the worst that could happen?

Like someone stops us right now,

what would happen?

Well, you know,

we could be stopped at any moment.

And hopefully it doesn't happen.

Some guys could all of a sudden stop you

in the middle of the road with weapons

and ask you to get out of your car

and-- and either kidnap you,

take your belongings away

or-or even, you know,

worse comes to worse,

I mean, they can even...

disappear you.

I mean, unfortunately

that's the kind of, uh, situation

that is going on in-- in this area

and a lot of places in Mexico right now.

(upbeat guitar music playing)

(music intensifies)

(speaking Spanish)

(Wendy speaking Spanish)

(sniffles)

(light jarana music playing)

♪ ♪

(Patricio speaking Spanish)

(strums jarana)

(strums jarana)

Jorge: When I was talking to Patricio one day,

Patricio Hidalgo,

he mentioned one time,

you know, um, Fandango...

is the road of peace.

The road of peace in Veracruz.

I never been to a Fandango,

uh, either in Veracruz or Tijuana

or San Diego, LA, wherever.

There is never violence, so...

so it feels like-- like this Chaneques

that we were talking about

are protecting us all the time.

(laughs)

(uplifting orchestral music playing)

(Patricio singing in Spanish)

(laughter)

-(applause) -(laughter)

(mini piano plinking)

(speaking Spanish)

(laughter)

-(Patricio speaking Spanish) -(laughter)

-(chuckling) -(applause)

(gentle piano music playing)

♪ ♪

When you come here

oddly you don't feel, uh, sad.

You feel a spiritual sense.

And you feel empowered on the human spirit

because of how they've taken what was an abomination,

have turned it into

something of the human imagination and beauty.

One of the musicians yesterday

said something that was so heavy.

He said this wall is not dividing us,

it's uniting us.

Douglas Brinkley: How do you think, Arturo,

the music makes a difference?

Arturo: I've been traveling as musician

since I was 17 or 18.

So I always considered myself a borderless person.

Yeah.

Japan, Germany, Korea, Russia.

So, you don't really think about the fact

that there's passports and borders and things.

You become accustomed to the idea

that you belong to all of this.

And this is just... This is an aberration.

Douglas: The thing that's odd if you think about with, uh...

Ronald Reagan

who is considered the...

paragon of American conservatism

talking about "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,"

and giving that amazing speech in Berlin

about fighting for freedom,

and then you come to the US-Mexican border

and see an ugly barrier here

of just metal jagging up

and it kind of speaks against American democratic ideals

to be, I think, treating our-- our border zone in such a way.

(soft piano and violin music playing)

(piano tempo increases)

(music intensifies)

(indistinct chatter)

(Jorge speaking Spanish over PA)

(people cheering)

(woman speaking Spanish)

(Jorge speaking Spanish)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering)

(cheering continues)

(cheering)

-(Fernando speaking Spanish) -Sí, bueno, bueno, bueno.

(Jorge speaking Spanish)

(Fernando speaking Spanish)

(cheering)

(strumming jarana)

(singing in Spanish)

(cheering)

(laughs)

(speaking Spanish)

(Beto speaking Spanish)

(Arturo speaking Spanish)

(Ernesto speaking Spanish)

(Beto speaking Spanish)

(laughs)

This has been a reality for the last...

What, 50 years...

Fifty years.

Having this thing here, right here.

It needs to come down.

And this is gonna bring it down, eh.

Art, music, culture.

It goes right through.

Our music goes right through.

(speaking Spanish)

-(Ernesto speaking Spanish) -(Beto speaking Spanish)

(laughter)

(indistinct)

High pinky.

High pinky.

All: High pinky!

High pinky. (laughs)

(laughter)

(speaking Spanish)

Wow!

(Jorge speaking Spanish)

Jorge: Every time you do that, the wall shakes. (laughs)

(ocean waves crashing)

-(clapping) -(whooping)

(Arturo speaking Spanish)

(applause)

(cheering)

(strumming)

(peppy music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(music intensifies)

(continues singing in Spanish)

(inaudible)

(singing continues)

(tempo decreases)

-(inaudible) -(tapping feet rhythmically)

(inaudible)

♪ ♪

(rhythmic clapping)

(guitar joins orchestra)

(string instruments join orchestra)

(tempo increases)

(music ends)

(cheering and applause)

(waves crashing)

(waves continue crashing)

(indistinct chatter in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Fernando speaking Spanish)

(laughs)

(lively harmonica music playing)

Kabir: After Fandango Fronterizo,

we coined this phrase "The Fandango Doctrine,"

which is all about bringing the fandango

to different places around the world.

And we thought, what better place

than our hometown of New York?

♪ ♪

(horns honking)

(speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

Wee-hee!

(speaking Spanish)

(Wendy speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(slow guitar music playing)

-(music ends) -(applause and cheers)

(guitar solo)

(upbeat music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

(Patricio singing in Spanish)

Man: Arturo!

(speaking Spanish)

(uplifting melodica music playing)

(applause and cheers)

(Jorge singing in Spanish)

(audience cheering)

(speaks Spanish)

-(jazz funk music playing) -(rhythmic clapping)

You're welcome to dance.

(lively orchestral music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

(cheering)

Whoo!

(music crescendos)

-(music ends) -(audience cheering)

(slow jazz music playing)

(tempo increases)

♪ ♪

(Mandy Gonzalez singing "Amor Sin Fronteras")

(singing continues)

(fast-paced violin music playing)

-(whoops) -(cheering)

(continues singing in Spanish)

(music ends)