La Original Banda El Limón de Salvador Lizárraga

Among the most enduring ensembles in contemporary Mexican banda, Original Banda el Limón traces its beginnings to the mid-'60s. Clarinetist Salvador Lizarraga Sánchez directs the seventeen-piece group, which has presented an array of classic vocalists across its career, among them Julio Preciado, José Ángel Ledesma ("El Coyote"), Jorge Cordero, Luis Antonio López ("El Mimoso"), and Nico Flores. The term "original" in the ensemble's title stems from an early division into rival factions, one remaining under Lizárraga while the other, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón, came under the direction of fellow clarinetist René Camacho. Over the decades the band has maintained a finer equilibrium between longstanding and updated styles than most peers; its timbres and charts stay rooted in tradition, yet the group ranked among the first to introduce amplification and synthesized elements. Derecho de Antiguedad, issued in 2009, entered the Top Latin Albums charts and initiated a run of charting releases that continued with the 2010 sequel Soy Tu Maestro: 45 Años Gracias a Ti, which rose to number 16, followed by Fin de Semana in 2013 and Mas Original Que Nunca in 2016. The next year brought two concert documents, En Vivo Zocalo and Un Pequeño Momento en Vivo Para Alguien Muy Especial.