Fandango at the Wall (2020) - full transcript

Good evening, everyone.
Good evening.

Hi. Welcome.

Hello.

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.

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.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

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.

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.

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.

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.

- Welcome to Mexico.
- Mexico.

México.

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.

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.

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.

Thank you.

Thank you.

♪ ♪

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It's 40 feet from here,

is the US border.

No wall's gonna stop us, man.

No.

Down!

Next year,
the demilitarized zone.

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

that have been traced to America.
- Yeah.

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

And the money and guns
coming this way.

I know.
- And it's like this loop.

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

And the addictions
are right here.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

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.

♪ ♪

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.

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."

♪ ♪

Jacob was telling me...

that this is
sacred magic land.

Exactly.

That little mystical creatures

called Pecheques or...

- Chaneques.
- Chaneques.

- Chaneques.
- Chaneques.

And that this whole area
is known

for mystical occurrences.

- 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--
- Probably, we all do.

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.

Don Andres
is almost 90 years old,

and to me this, uh, icon.

He's one of the best
son jarocho musicians.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Sí, sí, sí.

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.

♪ ♪

Oh!

Ohh!

Do you want me
to go get it?

No, it's okay.

Arturo.

La tierra.

Exactly.

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.

- 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.

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.

Yeah.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

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.

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♪ ♪

♪ ♪

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.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

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.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

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.

♪ ♪

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.

- No matter where you are.
- Yeah.

That's true.

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...

- 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...

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.
- But--

Cross-border trade.

- But think about--
- Really across border.

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

then-- then it'll work.

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.

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.

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

We shouldn't drive at night?

- In this land?
- Yeah.

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.

♪ ♪

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.

♪ ♪

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.

How do you think, Arturo,

the music makes a difference?

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.

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.

Sí, bueno, bueno, bueno.

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.

High pinky.

High pinky.

High pinky!

High pinky.

Wow!

Every time you do that,
the wall shakes.

♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Wee-hee!

♪ ♪

Arturo!

You're welcome to dance.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Whoo!

♪ ♪