Cuisillos

Cuisillos, at times identified more fully as Cuisillos de Arturo Macías or Banda Cusillos de Arturo Macías, stand among Mexico’s leading bandas thanks to their command of both romantic ballads and energetic rancheras. Their brassy signature is matched by an enduring affinity for Native American imagery, which appears consistently on album covers, in videos, and through the band members’ own stylized presentations, always handled with humor and respect. Serving as musical director, Arturo Macías—known to many as El Gran Jefe—oversees arrangements for nearly all of the group’s material.

Based in Jalisco, Cuisillos have released the bulk of their output on the Musart label, building a catalog that now surpasses two dozen albums. Momentum gathered after 2000, cresting when Puras Rancheras con Banda Cuisillos (2001) captured the Latin Grammy for Best Banda Album in 2002. Its successor, Las Romanticas de Cuisillos (2002), became the first Cuisillos title to reach the Top Ten of Billboard’s Regional Mexican albums chart, while Amor Gitano (2006) earned the band’s second Grammy nomination without taking the prize.

Mil Heridas, issued in 2007, delivered their biggest breakthrough: the title track climbed to number one on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart—none of their earlier singles had cracked the Top Ten—and reached number three on the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Before that single, only three Cuisillos releases had registered on Hot Latin Tracks—“Suavito” (2004), “Vanidosa” (2004), and “Descontrolado” (2005)—and none had advanced past the Top 30.