Music as a cultural identity: a case study of Latino musicians negotiating tradition and innovation in northwest Ohio

Abstract

This study, based on recent field research, explores Latino music culture in Toledo, Ohio, and presents strategies for incorporating the music into the classroom. In the ethnographic project, three professors - music educator, ethnomusicologist, folklorist - interviewed many musicians, bands and community leaders. Musicians were regenerating Mexican-American traditions, especially that of the folk conjunto ensemble, while developing strategies to innovate the sound and meet the changing aesthetics of a populist youth market and emerging pan-Latino identity. In addition to reconstructing traditional culture, musicians and community leaders were interested in crafting a positive image for both cultural outsiders and insiders and reaching out to the greater Toledo community. The authors highlight the musical lives of the artists, suggest that musicians can play a role in shaping culturally sensitive class curricula, and advocate that educators and students engage directly in fieldwork projects to better grasp the meaning of music in peoples’ lives.