Its Pre-columbian rhythms and subsequent European influences always allow it to shine as distinctly Mexican.

The mariachi is in the truest sense a folk orchestra playing the regional music of Jalisco. Under the inspired leadership of Rubén Fuentes it has reached its full potential for sophisticated arrangements without compromising the traditions from which it sprang.

The influx of German settlers in the north brought with it the accordion and the polkas, waltzes and oom-pah military music so dear to German hearts. The Mexicans engulfed it and made it their own.

My brothers and I grew up particularly loving the sones and huapangos from the south and trios from the Huastecas. We were thrilled when we finally got to record our own versions of these songs we'd admired for so long. On this recording, they sing with me both in the more formal arrangements done by Fuentes and in the most casual living room performance versions of songs we learned from Trio Tariacuri and Trio Calaveras.

Tejano accordion player Flaco Jimenez makes a guest appearance on "Palomito de Ojos Negros." Although his wonderfully unique accordion style is clearly Mexican in origin, the presence of black sharecroppers in Texas have given it a blues flavor that doesn't occur south of the Texas-Mexican border. Nonetheless, I feel his contribution here is appropriate because we are both Mexican-Americans who revere the musical traditions of our regions and our grandfathers.