- Rubén Fuentes
Rubén Fuentes Gassón (*
Ciudad Guzmán ,February 15 1926 ), is a Mexican classicalviolinist andcomposer , who is best known for his contributions tomariachi music. In 1944, he joined MariachiVargas de Tecalitlán as aviolinist and later as a music arranger. In 1955 Fuentes stopped performing in the group, but he maintains his position as producer, musical arranger andmusical director until today. As such, he had a profound influence on Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan and mariachi music in general.Rubén Fuentes wrote dozens of Mexican standards including "La Negra," "La Culebra," "Las Alazanas," "Como Si Nada," "La Bikina," "Que Bonita Es Mi Tierra," "Flor Sin Reteño," "Ni Princesa Ni Esclava" and "Camino Real de Colima" (many composed with
Silvestre Vargas ). Fuentes also produced several ofLinda Ronstadt 's traditional Latin albums. His songs have been performed byVikki Carr ,Pedro Infante ,Marco Antonio Muniz andJavier Solis , among others.Ruben Fuentes was the musical director of RCA Records in Mexico during the late 1950s to the late 1960s. For that reason, he was the arranger and musical producer of many records of major ranchero singers. Most of them were accompanied by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. Fuentes was also the musical arranger for most of
Jose Alfredo Jimenez 's songs, a prolific Mexican-born composer whose compositions, like Fuentes, elevated traditional Mariachi music to international heights and acclaim.External links
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