Big Blog n.1: American Roots Music

 

Big Blog n.1: American Roots Music

My search has been based on Tejano music genre. Tejano music also can be  named as ‘Tejana’ or ‘Tex-Mex’ and it was born in Texas. Although it has influences from Mexico and other Latin American countries, the main influences are American. The types of music that make up Tejano music are folk music, roots music, rock, R&B, soul music, blues, country music and the Latin influences of norteño, mariachi and Mexican cumbia. Famous Tejano musicians included Emilio and Raulito Navaira, David Lee Garza and Jay Perez.

Emilio y Raulito Navarra:

As we can see in the video, Tejano music conveys liveliness, joy, excitement and the desire to dance. Typically, Tejano combines Mexican Spanish vocal styles with dance rhythms from Czech and German genres; particularly polka or waltz.

Since the late 20th century, Tejano has experienced a decline of dedicated radio stations in the U.S., due to several factors. Among these is the success of Intocable. As a result, many radio stations in the United States, especially in Texas, have converted to Norteño/Band. This has caused Tejano Internet radio to become popular. In the early 21st century, Tejano influence has declined in part due to the decline in promotion, the rise of regional Mexican and other Latin music, the breakup or retirement of established artists, and the emergence of few new artists. Most of the Tejano artists who performed throughout the 1990s during the music's heyday and still do today have rarely played with the same attention in recent years. Regardless, today's Tejano music, while much more pop-oriented than its Depression-era roots, remains a regional musical style in several Tejano communities, as well as in other parts of the United States. During the post-World War II years, local and regional companies emerged to record and market Tejano music. Key factors that influenced the production of Tejano music can be attributed to the diversification of American culture and increased socioeconomic opportunities allowed Mexican American musicians to perform and record music for regional audiences. Early popular forms of Tejano music in the form of female duos and Tejano orchestra of the 1940s later influenced the development of the Tex-Mex style of the 1950s.

The Tejano Music Awards was then created, an award created by ancient arts teacher and musician Rudy Treviño in 1981. The award recognizes outstanding performers of Tejano music, a German polka-based American genre of music recorded in their own English or Spanish language. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by Tejano music artists and bands and the presentation of all awards. The Tejano Music Awards are presented annually in San Antonio, Texas, although the ceremony was presented in other host cities such as Eagle Pass, Texas. The first Tejano Music Awards was held in 1981 and recognized musicians and recordings of Tejano music 1980.

Here is a compilation of the 2015 Tejano Music Awards:

In recent years, there has been a growing Mexican influence in Tejano music resulting in a more Norteño sound. The accordion, while historically a popular instrument in Tejano music, has evolved from a secondary instrument to a must-have instrument. The accordion is a wind harmonic musical instrument, consisting of a bellows, a fingerboard and two wooden soundboards. At both ends the bellows is closed by the wooden boxes. Besides the accordion, Texan music also uses musical instruments including the flute, wind and percussion instruments, guitar, and orchestral sounds.

Narciso Martínez (1911-1992) gave accordion playing a new character of virtuosity when in the 1930s he adopted the two-row button accordion, typical of northern music, from which he received great influence. At the same time, he formed a group with Santiago Almeida, who played the bajo sexto, a 12-string bass guitar derived from the Spanish bandurria. Their new musical style, called "conjunto", soon became the favorite music of the working class.

Flaco Jiménez (1939- ), son of an accordionist and grandson of a man who had learned to play this instrument from a German immigrant, followed the tradition of accordion virtuosity initiated by Martínez and became himself a reference in the international scene of the World Music movement of the eighties.

Narciso Martínez with Santiago Almeida:

Accordion:

This musical genre was basically composed and practiced by men, that is why I would like to show you the case of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a woman who has become famous thanks to her Tejano music songs.

She began her musical career at the age of 9 alongside her siblings Suzette and Abraham Quintanilla III, and recorded her first album at the age of 12. In the 1980s, she was criticized and rejected several times for performing Tejano music, a genre only dominated by men. Her popularity grew after she won the Tejano Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist in 1987. She is considered one of the most relevant figures of this musical genre and a great exponent of Latin music with sales of more than 60 million records worldwide,1 2 making her the third Latin singer with the most records sold after Gloria Estefan and Shakira. Selena was called ‘The Queen of Tejano Music,’ she sang with her ensemble in many events and eventually became very popular.  Selena was very successful and won awards such as a Grammy. One of her most famous  songs is called 'Como La Flor' and she sang it at the Astrodome in Houston. Sadly, Selena was murdered by the president of her fan club in 1995. Today there is a movie and a Netflix series about Selena's life.

Como La Flor- Selena:

Tejano music is usually danced in a style similar to country music, with various twists and 2-step steps combined with the traditional Mexican one-step dance. Generally, if a person knows how to dance to country music, he or she can easily join a Tex-Mex dance floor. As in country music, tex-mex dancers advance around the dance floor in counterclockwise rotation.

This is an example of a couple dancing the Tejano:

Works cited:

Selena Biography - Life, Family, Children, Parents, Story, Death, School, Old, Information, Born, Movie. www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/Selena.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2022.

“Tejano: Local Music, Global Identity.” Grantmakers in the Arts, https://www.giarts.org/article/tejano-local-music-global-identity.

“Tejano Music History: 4 Characteristics of Tejano Music - 2022.” MasterClass, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tejano-music-guide.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Accordion | Definition, Origin, History, Types, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Dec. 2021, www.britannica.com/art/accordion.