Trends
This is an opinionated history link of my own, and perhaps it's just me and my wondering mind trying to figure out things logically, thinking about our Onda, and caring about our music. Maybe it's just a generation gap and trend when I say that our music is changing. Well, it is changing, but surprisingly it is evolving - ever so slowly.
Secondly, we have come an exceptionally long way from the early 1930's and on to the 1950's; that is, from the early pioneers of conjuntos to the big orchestras; from Gilberto Perez to the bands of Little Joe and the Latin Breed; on to groups with organs and keyboards; and better studio recordings.
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Our proud tejano music history is long and distinguished with so many musicians and artists that made history and won so many awards. Of course, I do not live in Texas either and perhaps I am just missing the ball in right and left field, but I do sense that: "Something is just not the same and not like it was years ago. Is our tejano music on a pivotal edge and about to change? Again?"
A Music Style: Tejano Music ... "What Is Tejano Music?"
1) Tejano music, also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican and US influences. Typically, Tejano combines Mexican Spanish vocal styles with dance rhythms from Czech and German genres -particularly polka or waltz.
Tejano music is traditionally played by small groups featuring accordion and guitar or bajo sexto. Its evolution began in northern Mexico.
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2) Music is something enjoyed all over the world. It brings entire nations, and people together. With time, different ethnicities have put their twist to the tunes, and have come up with new genres of music. One such very popular genre is Tejano Music. Tejano is a blend of European, Mexican, and American music styles. It is now enjoyed both nationally and internationally.
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3) Tejano music is a genre of music born in the states of Texas and Mexico in the 18th century. Over three centuries, Tejano music has absorbed a lot of different styles, and instruments. The music features tunes from the Czech Republic and Germany, especially polka, and waltz.
Here’s why the genre is called Tejano Music. The name Tejano was given to Mexican Americans living in Texas. The music is played using the accordion and has since developed from being a small genre of music to being played on large stages worldwide.
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Tejano music was born in Texas, near the Mexican-Texas border, and in Northern Mexico. The origins of the genre can be traced back to people from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, migrating to the US. These people influenced the Tejanos by their polka music and accordion. The accordion would go on to be the major instrument used to make Tejano Music.
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The music gained immense popularity with the working class. The Mexican working class spends days working and music is the perfect way to loosen up. Soon musicians and small bands became very common at festive events, and pubs and taverns. These small bands were called orquestas and included musicians that played the accordion, flute, guitar, and drums. Finally, the genre gained popularity after famous artists got their music recorded.
More and more people heard Tejano Music through the radio, and later the television. Tejano Music is important for the Mexican American people, not only because it is a part of their history, but also because it has kept their identity alive. In the racist times of the 1800s and 1900s, Tejano music was a way to bring Mexican Americans out to the world.
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The Fame of Tejano Music / Another Viewpoint
While Tejano was already popular among the Mexican American community in Texas, it still had a long way to go before it had a widespread following. During the Mexican Revolution, a lot of people migrated to Texas. These people spread around America taking with them the unique singing and dancing styles of Tejano Music. These people spread their culture everywhere they went, sharing it with people they met, and thus, bringing Tejano Music out to a bigger audience.
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The biggest boom in the popularity of Tejano Music was when the songs were recorded and distributed. In the 1930s, Narciso Martinez was the first person to have recorded a Tejano Music song. His main purpose was to share his passion with the world, and didn’t care much for fame, or money. Narciso was the person that laid the foundation for the dreams of many young Hispanics, and one of them, a young girl named Selena, would go on to make the genre even more popular.
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In the Second World War, music in Texas divided itself. Conjunto became famous in South Texas. Working-class Americans liked the song too much. Santiago Jimenez and his son Flaco Jimenez were popular conjunto singers. The other part of Tejano Music was orquestas, led by Beto Villa, Isidro Lopez, and Oscar Martinez.
Texans - One and All
European Spaniards and their descendants - other than Native American groups - were the dominant peoples of Texas for more than three centuries. From the beginning of the 16th century until well into the 19th, the Spanish changed New World history, native peoples, and even the land. The Spanish came to Mexico and Texas as conquerors - soldiers, settlers, and priests. Other than exploitation of natural resources (gold, silver, timber, fibers) and human resources (Indian slaves), the Spanish goals were to impose religious and social orders on the natives and to set up a civilization patterned after what had been accomplished in Europe.
Texas remained a frontier under the rule of the Spanish, but the conquerors were relatively successful, considering their small numbers. To some degree, the Spaniards were changed by the land and the people they found. Spanish religion and temperament condoned (and even encouraged) mixed marriages. Spanish law generally extended social rights to all free or freed people, whatever the mix of European or Indian or African, although government employment of any high rank was reserved to those of “pure” Spanish blood.
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In the New World the Spanish Indians, the mestizos, quickly became numerous and important. The first generations in Texas and later descendants were called, and called themselves, Spaniards, Mexicans, Tejanos, Texas Mexicans, and, in recent years, Hispanics, Latinos, Mexican Texans, Mexicanos, Mexican Americans, la Raza, Chicanos, and, again, Tejanos.
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One single name has never been accepted by those of Spanish Mexican Indian descent, and some names have been socially or politically rejected by nearly all. Besides, immigrants to Mexico have arrived from many countries, including Ireland, Italy, England, and China. And descendants of such immigration have come to Texas. Like the mixtures of those who call themselves Anglo, the Spanish, or Mexican, or Tejano “culture” is not a single set of beliefs or activities. But by whatever name, the first Spaniards, later to be Mexicans, came to change things - and did.
Into a land that would become Texas, a place which was in anthropological terms, nearly a Stone Age, the Spanish brought European horses and armor and firearms. They also brought ranching and farming traditions of Spain, legal and religious systems of tremendous power, architecture, printing, a common language and literature, European crafts and arts, as well as cows, sheep, donkeys, goats, chickens, and pigs, and grapes, peaches, and other crops, along with devastating diseases. Things would never be the same again. [By John L. Davis, Institute of Texan Cultures]
LATIN / TEJANO History in Austin Texas ...
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Austin has a long history of Tejano and Latin culture that can be traced back to before the early 1920s to musicians such as master acordeonista and Conjunto Hall of Famer Camilo Cantú. Inspired by conjuntos before him like Leopoldo Guajardo, he began playing the accordion at dance parties in Central Texas. At the time, because of the lack of dance halls in rural areas, most of these parties were held at private residences. A young Johnny Degollado, who now is a longstanding local figurehead in conjunto music, attended these events with his family and observed the large crowds that Cantú’s music would draw.
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In the 1940s and ‘50s, Cantú’s band frequented a former Del Valle dance club called La Polkita, but while he became known as “El Azote de Austin” (“the Scourge of Austin”) and a live music legend, his music was unfortunately never recorded. Luckily, future generations of Tejano musicians in Austin, such as Johnny Degollado, kept Cantú’s legacy alive. In addition to Degollado, the Tejano scene has grown into a community of unparalleled talent that includes those like Chencho Flores, Leonard Davila, Ruben Ramos, and many others.
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Another pioneer of Tejano music and East Austin fixture, Manuel "Cowboy" Donley, often credited as the “Godfather of Tejano Music,” was instrumental in creating the orquesta sound by combining Mexican and American pop music elements inspired by big band. Inspired by his father who was also a musician and professor of orquesta, Donley’s music career caught fire in the 1940s and he is often credited for elevating Austin’s Latin music scene to the level of worldwide acclaim. He was inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame in 1986, has recorded over 150 singles, and has received many prestigious awards (such as the National Endowment for the Arts) both on a national and local level.
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Of course, while there is an endless list of names of important figures in Austin Tejano music history, those who are interested in learning more are welcome to visit the nearly 5-mile Tejano Walking Trail or Texas Music Museum, both located in East Austin, to discover more about legends in Tejano culture such as Cowboy Donley, Nash Hernandez, the Perez & Ramos families, and Matias Velasquez.
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As decades have passed, the Tejano genre of music has become a cultural niche but nonetheless is carried on by those like Los Texas Wranglers, Los Pinkys, and Los A-T Boyz. Nowadays, local fans of Tejano music can enjoy the classic sounds of Pure Tejano Radio, a 24/7 internet radio station music operating out of Southeast Austin. Visitors may also plan their trip around events such as the annual Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival. Additionally, for over a decade, the Leonard Davila-founded Austin Tejano Music Coalition and Austin Latino Music Association (ALMA) have been supporting the genre, expanding its community, and preserving the historical contributions of Tejano and Latin music.
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The city’s Latin community is expansive and has only grown through the years. Those such as Patricia Vonne, Tish Hinojosa, and Rosie Flores led the charge to include more women in Latin music. Furthermore, there are a number of local musicians and bands of the younger generation that have been inspired by their Latin roots such as funk-brass band Cilantro Boombox, Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma, contemporary cumbia-synth band Como Las Movies, Austin’s premiere Selena-tribute band Bidi Bidi Banda, multi-award winning female trio Tiarra Girls, Latin songstress Lesly Reynaga, and Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Paula Maya.
In the South Congress area, music from the lively outdoor cantina of one of Austin’s most iconic local restaurants, Gueros’s Oak Garden, can be heard by passers-by every day Wednesday through Sunday. A hotspot for entertainment, Guero’s often hosts Latin bands such as 70s-inspired rock band Buenos Diaz, jam band El Tule, and funk band Ex Romantika. While you’re waiting for a seat to enjoy their authentic tacos al pastor, you can hang out under the shade and order refreshments from their outdoor bar.
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Since opening in 2006, local non-profit Esquina Tango offers dance, exercise, and language classes open to all and free for seniors and children. The organization keeps East Austin busy by hosting social events, movies, salsa nights, flamenco shows, and live music on the regular. Whether it’s by yourself or with a partner, you can learn how to dance, take a yoga class, or enjoy music by local talents such as Susanna Sharpe’s Brazilian Quartet, Diana Naranjo, and Ana Barajas.
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Of the largest of these venues is the Coliseum Austin (El Coliseo Austin). Located in Southeast Austin, the space is unlike any other in the city. It includes an enormous dance floor, five bars, and plentiful seating throughout the club. Celebrated guest performers of the Coliseum’s stage have been touring acts like salsa heavyweight Oscar DeLeon, American Idol winner Fantasia, and reggaeton artist Don Omar. Weekends at the Coliseum are filled with excitement and music by some of the best local DJs and musicians in town.
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One of the city’s last remaining music venues that features original music on “Dirty Sixth” is Flamingo Cantina which opened in 1991 and has since remained one of the best venues for Latin, world beat, reggae and ska music. Sahara Lounge, deep in East Austin, was founded in 2011 but had been the location of many venues before it such as the historic jazz and blues venue TC’s Lounge which was open for 33 years before the Sahara took over. The venue is run by local world music royalty, a mother-son team made up of Eileen Bristol of Zoumountchi, the “Africa Night” house band at the Sahara, and her son Topaz McGarrigle of psychedelic afrobeat collective Golden Dawn Arkestra, an Austin staple.
If you’re headed into Austin and want to check out the city’s vast collection of world-renowned Latin acts (besides the ones mentioned above), you may already be familiar with the works of globally-recognized, Latin Grammy-nominated Gina Chavez, Chicano blues band Tito & Tarantula, resident rock band of brotherly love Vallejo, rock violinist Haydn Vitera, and Grammy-winning Los Lonely Boys whose hit debut single “Heaven” was a number-one hit on the Billboard adult contemporary chart and reached the Top 40 Billboard chart in 2004. [Contributed by Nathalie Phan.]
NOTES ON - TEJANO MUSIC / Jose R. Reyna / Perspectives in Mexican American Studies - Tucson, AZ [In part.]
The present study is intended in large part to fill a gap in the study of Tejano music which has resulted from neglect on the part of scholars - a situation not unlike that which exists in many other areas of Chicano Studies. Therefore, what follows is primarily a descriptive treatment of the subject. Although there is also an attempt to discuss the subject from an historical perspective, that is not the principal consideration at this time, since much more basic research is needed for precise historical documentation.
In the future, once a basic framework has been established, more detailed analytical, even polemical, studies will no doubt be undertaken.' The focus of this paper is upon instrumentation and orchestration as distinctive features of the Chicano music of Texas. Other aspects, such as Chicano lyrics, individual performers, groups, dance tradition, comparative questions, and the role of the Tejano music industry are touched upon only briefly for it is in instrumentation and orchestration that we can see the evolution of a strain of music that is clearly Chicano / Tejano, although it is influenced by Mexican and American traditions.
It should be stated further that at any given time in this evolution there have existed ensembles consisting of various combinations of instruments, some of which can still be found in South Texas. All of these contribute to the broad range of Chicano music tradition in Texas. But at present, there are two types of groups that are dominant - the conjunto and the orquesta or banda. It is the evolution of these two forms which I will examine here.
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The first to appear as an independent and identifiable type was the conjunto. Among Chicanos in Texas, the term "conjunto," which in Hispanic countries, including Mexico, may refer to different types of musical groups, has come to refer to a group in which the accordion is the principal instrument, with the bass, guitar, and trap set providing the rhythm and accompaniment. Of course, this ensemble is a relatively recent form, that is, the accordion, guitar, bass, and drums did not really become firmly established as a musical unit until the 1940s and 1950s.
The exact origins of the conjunto Tejano, as well as of its Mexican relative the conjunto norteño, are impossible to ascertain primarily because of their folk origins. It is possible that the former is a descendant of the latter, which might be a logical conclusion in view of the fact that most Chicano cultural traditions are of Mexican provenience.
One problem, however, is that the conjunto norteño has been the unwanted stepchild of Mexican folkloric and popular music, having been eclipsed by the mariachi and other forms considered more representative national types. Thus, it has been and continues to be ignored by the students of Mexican popular music and by purveyors of Mexican culture.
The key to determining the origins of the conjunto would seem to be the appearance in Mexico and South Texas of the accordion and certain
non-Hispanic musical forms identified with the conjunto, especially in its early stages. For instance, the schottisch (in Spanish, schotis), redova, waltz, mazurka and particularly, the polka - all European instrumental forms introduced during the French period (1864-1867) - were the rage among the elite in Mexico, and by the late nineteenth century became part of Mexican folk music tradition.
This assumes further that these forms were also transmitted to Texas where they became equally popular among the folk. The same route would have been followed by the accordion, similarly a non-Mexican contribution to conjunto tradition. It is a well-known fact that German immigrants settled in the South Texas /Mexico border area as early as the 1830s, which means that the features mentioned above could have been introduced first in Texas then transmitted south into Greater Mexico. This could be true especially of the accordion. [More to come from this pdf file.]
Before Selena: Lydia Mendoza and More Queens of Tejano Music
Lydia Mendoza (1916-2007) was born in Houston, Texas, to a father who worked as a railway mechanic and a mother who taught her to play guitar before she also learned violin and mandolin.
By the late 1920s the family had formed a band that traveled throughout the Lower Rio Grande Valley, playing in restaurants and barber shops for Mexican and Mexican American agricultural laborers, thus beginning Lydia’s performance career that would span six decades.
Lydia Mendoza became strongly associated with the rural working-class genre of canción ranchera, and her music reflected the economic and social struggles of Tejanos especially from the 1920s through the 1950s.
Scholar Yolanda Broyles-González has written in an essay for the National Recording Registry: “As a grassroots idol, she was loved for her ability to articulate a working-class sentimiento (sentiment and sentience) through song and through the breathtaking visual spectacle of her flashy hand-sequined, hand-beaded performance attire whose symbolic designs announced her ancient cultural roots in the Americas.”
Lydia became known as “La Alondra de la Frontera” (“The Meadowlark of the Border”) and “La Cancionera de los Pobres” (“Songstress of the Poor”).
She learned to play the 12-string guitar and accompany herself, and in 1934, she made her first solo recording, “Mal Hombre,” which was added to the National Recording Registry in 2010.
As a result of her many successful recordings, Lydia became the first interpreter of rural popular Tejano and border music to become a star and was called the “Queen of Tejano.” She was honored in the inaugural class of National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellows in 1982 and received the National Medal for the Arts in 1999.
Beatriz “La Paloma del Norte” Llamas and Blanquita “Blanca Rosa” Rodríguez, accompanied by music from Mariachi Esperanza in the Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress on September 18, 2019, as part of the Homegrown concert series sponsored by the American Folklife Center.
Llamas and Rodríguez are members of a group of four women who, through the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas, collaborated in the 2000s to form Las Tesoros de San Antonio to preserve Mexican and Tejano cultural expressions through singing and storytelling.
The other two members of the group were Janet “Perla Tapatia” Cortez and Rita “La Calandria” Vidaurri. All four women grew up in the Westside of San Antonio and had successful singing careers in the 1940s-1970s.
Although Janet Cortez and Rita Vidaurri passed away in recent years, Llamas and Rodríguez continue to perform and maintain the legacy of the group.
Each singer, with her personal style and grace, forms part of this unique ensemble that represents the sound of the Mexico/Texas border.
They are inspired by and connected to many other important Tejana singers, including Lydia Mendoza and Eva Garza.
Raised in Texas, Laura Canales was a always strong vocalist throughout her youth. And just like Selena, Canales’ father played a pivotal role in the early days of her career when he encouraged her to perform Tejano music; the hybrid style created along the Texas-Mexico border that was primarily sung by men at the time.
Canales first appeared on the scene in 1973, performing with the groups Los Unicos and Conjunto Bernal. Then in the 1970s, she helped form the band Snowball & Company, which went on to release several albums and had a hit with the song “Midnight Blue.” But it was in the next decade that Canales truly found fame. In 1981, she and her new husband formed Laura Canales & Encanto.
The band released several records throughout the decade and had a major hit with the track “Sí Viví Contigo.” Soon she was dubbed “La Reina de la Onda Tejana” (“The Queen of the Tejano Wave”) and took home the Female Vocalist of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards from 1983 to 1985. Selena broke that streak when she won the award in 1986.
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It is unclear if anything similar to the inspirational conversation between the two singers as depicted in “Selena: The Series” actually took place at the 1986 awards. However, we do know that the two stars did maintain a friendly relationship as their careers coincided - even as they were competing for the same awards and Selena was bringing the Tejano sound to fresh audiences and massive stadiums.
Selena and Canales did also perform together at multiple events throughout their careers, and Canales was able to ride the wave of international interest in Tejano music in the 1990s during her first comeback, performing hits like “Cuatro Caminos” and “Dame La Mano.”
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In the 1990s, Canales decided to start her second act and enrolled at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and in 1997 she graduated with a BA in Psychology and Speech Therapy. But that was not the end of her music career - she mounted a second comeback when she appeared on the Leyendas y Raices tour, which featured fellow Tejano performers.
In 2000, Canales had the honor of being a member of the first class of inductees into the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame. Sadly, her life was cut short when she developed a case of pneumonia and died suddenly on April 16, 2005, after complications from gallbladder surgery, NPR reported. She was 50 years old.