Find this Tucson-born trumpeter on a mariachi postage stamp

Carrillo’s likeness served as inspiration for one of five mariachi-themed stamps released for purchase by the USPS earlier this month.

The stamps, unveiled at the 30th annual Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque on July 15, showcase mariachi musicians in traditional attire playing the guitar, guitarrón, vihuela, violin and trumpet, in colorful portraits created by San Diego-based artist Rafael López.

An image of Carrillo was used as reference for the trumpet player stamp with Carrillo’s permission, according to USPS Stamps Services Director Bill Gicker.

Eighteen million of the mariachi-themed stamps have been produced and are for sale at USPS facilities across the country and at USPS.com.

“I went to the post office today,” Carrillo, 64, said in a phone interview Wednesday from his Florida home. “I walked in and saw my stamp framed up on the wall. I still can’t believe it.”

Carrillo and his brother, Randy Carrillo, helped create the quintessential Tucson mariachi group Mariachi Cobre, alongside fellow musicians Mack Ruiz, Frank Grijalva, Ruben Moreno, Fred Tarazon, Gilbert Velez and Jim Acuña, in 1971.

Cobre was a spinoff of Los Changuitos Feos, Tucson’s first youth mariachi ensemble, and has served as the in-house mariachi group at the Mexican Pavilion at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center, in Orlando, Florida, since 1982.

Steve Carrillo is the last original member still in Cobre, but six out of its 12 current members hail from Tucson, Carrillo said.

Carrillo said he was contacted nearly a year ago about a photo of him from author Patricia Greathouse’s book “Mariachi” possibly being used as reference for a postage stamp.

He gave his OK and signed a release and didn’t hear about it again until about a month ago, when he received an invitation to attend the unveiling at the mariachi conference in Albuquerque.

Carrillo was already planning on attending the conference as an instructor.

“They introduced me and announced me at the ceremony,” Carrillo said. “It was quite an honor.”

Carrillo said he felt the artist, López, did well with his interpretation of the mariachi artists in the stamp series.

“(He) did a good job as far as me holding my trumpet,” Carrillo said. “Overall, it was very good and very positive to put mariachi out there to another demographic, a bigger demographic, to promote our music, our culture.”

López, who splits his time between San Diego and Mexico City, said he knows well the significance of mariachi music and wanted that to be reflected in his work.

Beyond Carrillo, López looked to the Golden Age of Mexican cinema for inspiration, when actors like Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete sang on the silver screen with mariachi musicians in tow. 

“I love mariachi,” López said. “It brings back memories of my childhood growing up in Mexico City. They sing about very human emotions that we can all relate to.”

Carrillo said that it makes him feel good to know that his likeness will help promote mariachi music on such a large scale.

The mariachi stamps, sold in sheets of 20 for $12, are forever stamps, meaning they will always be equal in value to the current first-class mail 1-ounce price. 

Carrillo expects he will be getting a lot of letters donning his face from friends and family in the coming months.

“I am waiting to see who that first person is going to be,” he said.