José Luis Torres was born in the small town of Atlixco, Puebla, 105 kilometers to the south of Mexico City, and now resides in Huntington. Part of a musical family, his grandfather and uncle both played marimba in large ensembles that specialized in the music of southern Mexico, while his father played drum in a local banda de viento or brass band. At age 13, José Luis started performing a romantic guitar music called rondalla at school, at church and for serenades. From that time on, Torres knew he wanted to be a professional musician so he took it upon himself to learn any type of music he came across, from Spanish to Andean. Still, the depth of the musical traditions of his own country were what attracted him most strongly.

Mr. Torres spent several years touring Europe with his group Los Mariachis de Atlixco, a favorite in France and Germany. He is also a talented composer and lyricist specializing in romantic, rondalla-influenced guitar songs, while his oldest son composes Spanish language hiphop music that was recently featured in Manhattan’s Puerto Rican Day Parade. José Luis moved to Long Island in 1994, where he continues to perform traditional Mexican music on instruments like jarana huasteca, guitar, quinta de golpe, vihuela, and guitarrón with his two sons in the group Mariachi Tierra.