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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Man Played Matachines Music

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
      When the elders die, a part of the region's culture is lost.
    Pedro Gonzales was 79 when he died July 12, and he was one of only a handful who knew how to play the Matachines dance music on a 12-string and 6-string guitar.
    Gonzales regularly played for several Matachines dances in the East Mountain area and lived in McIntosh before recently moving to Albuquerque.
    The Matachines dance is performed in many small communities and pueblos around the state but its meaning and origin is uncertain.
    "I was born into it. It's a tradition we've all followed," said Charlie Gonzales, Pedro's nephew and a Matachines dancer.
    Before he died, Pedro Gonzales played guitar while Angelo Gonzales, son of Pedro's nephew Charlie, danced at a two-day gathering of Matachines dance groups in Albuquerque at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
    Pedro Gonzales lived in California for about 30 years and moved back to McIntosh about 10 years ago, back to the area where he had learned the Matachines dance music from other elders who had taught him to play.
    He went into the hospital after falling and having a slight heart attack, said Geraldine Gonzales, his daughter.
    "He never came out of the anesthetic," Geraldine Gonzales said.
    Pedro Gonzales had family in Chilili, grandparents in Carnuel and most recently worked as a cook at the Blue Ribbon Bar in Estancia for a short while where he became known for his salsa and posole.
    "Hey, Pete! Make your salsa!" Geraldine said, remembering what customers would say to her father.
    "I think it was the way that he cooked it. You just boil everything, the tomato sauce, (little) chiles, onions and garlic. It was just the way he put it together. He had that Blue Ribbon Bar jumping when he made" it, said Nora Gonzales, another daughter.
    Pedro Gonzales was in the 82nd Airborne and was stationed in Japan in WWII and in Korea, Geraldine Gonzales said.
    Mary Gonzales, Pedro's wife, is still living in Albuquerque. His daughter Viola Gonzales lives in Albuquerque, daughter Yolanda Gonzales lives in California, and son Pete Gonzales also lives in Albuquerque, Geraldine Gonzales said.
   

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