Cano traveled to the northern city of
Mexicali in 1950, where he joined the Mariachi Chapala and quickly became its arranger, although he was ten years younger than most of the band members. The band has played across the United States, including such landmarks as
Carnegie Hall,
Disney Hall,
Lincoln Center, the
Kennedy Center, and the
Orange County Performing Arts Center. In 1969, Cano opened a restaurant, La Fonda, located on
Wilshire Boulevard. He had vowed to one day own his own restaurant after being refused service at an eatery in
Texas. La Fonda closed in 2007, but reopened with Los Camperos in March 2016. Starting in the 1980s, Cano focused on mentoring young people in the mariachi tradition. For close to thirty years, he led workshops for youth across the American Southwest. Cano taught and lectured on
ethnomusicology at
University of California, Los Angeles. He stepped down as leader of Mariachi los Camperos in the 2000s due to declining health, but continued to perform with the group. ==Death==