Mexican accordion
Larry Pope
Squeezers,
As I was driving across the empty stretches of Texas a week ago
last Sunday morning I tried to find a "NPR" station for my morning fix.
I did not find a "NPR" station but I stumbled onto what must have been
a Mexican station from across the border. For almost an hour (the station
faded out) I listened to music featuring the accordion and Spanish
language lyrics. Now my high school Spanish has long since disappeared
into the recesses of my mind so I did not understand the announcer or
anything they were singing but it was delightful ... the accordion was
quite prominent. This was more accordion music on the radio in one hour
than I had heard on the radio all year.
Any idea what form of Mexican music this could be?? To me it sounded
like a slow polka with Spanish lyrics and typical Mexican themes in
the melody, not familiar to me at all but very nice.
Thanks,
Larry
(BTW ... for those overseas, NPR is "National Public Radio" ... commercial
free and listener supported. Also about the only place you can find
news broadcasts on FM anymore!)
John Valentine
Sounds like you're describing Conjunto or Norte~o music, Larry. Kind of a Tex-
Mex phenomenon, with the accent on Mex. Traditionally, it has a button
accordion, bass, bajo sexto, and perhaps a guitar. Now, they use horns and
keyboards, as well.
Conjunto music consists of polkas, waltzes, boleros, guarachas, and assorted
other latin forms, but we usually think of polkas and waltzes.
I've heard it described as "Mexican country music."
There are others on the list who play this, and who could fill you in better.
John Valentine (Still lost in law school exams)
Joyce Ashcroft
Larry Pope recently wrote, in part:
<it was delightful ... the accordion was
<quite prominent. This was more accordion music on the radio in one hour
<than I had heard on the radio all year.
<Any idea what form of Mexican music this could be?? To me it sounded
<like a slow polka with Spanish lyrics and typical Mexican themes in
<the melody, not familiar to me at all but very nice.
___________________
I don't know what kind of music it is, Larry, but it sounds like the same
thing I heard when I was in New Mexico last August. It was playing over a
sound system in a bookstore. Whatever it is, I like it! (My friend rolled
her eyes and the thought-balloon that appeared over her head read "Oh,
lord, we'll never get her out of here now!")
Joyce
*****************
Joyce Ashcroft
Advanced Studies Program
St. Paul's School
Concord, NH 03301
(603)229-4777
a...@sps.edu
Jamie
Are you thinking of Conjuto music? It's pretty much a staple down here,
(I live in houston)
One of my favorite artists is Flaco Jiminez from Austin.
The typical 'conjuto' band has a diatonic accordian, a 12 string bass,
and drums.
It certainly is polka, just different.
Larry Pope wrote:
>
> Squeezers,
>
> As I was driving across the empty stretches of Texas a week ago
> last Sunday morning I tried to find a "NPR" station for my morning fix.
> I did not find a "NPR" station but I stumbled onto what must have been
> a Mexican station from across the border. For almost an hour (the station
> faded out) I listened to music featuring the accordion and Spanish
> language lyrics. Now my high school Spanish has long since disappeared
> into the recesses of my mind so I did not understand the announcer or
> anything they were singing but it was delightful ... the accordion was
> quite prominent. This was more accordion music on the radio in one hour
> than I had heard on the radio all year.
>
> Any idea what form of Mexican music this could be?? To me it sounded
> like a slow polka with Spanish lyrics and typical Mexican themes in
> the melody, not familiar to me at all but very nice.
>
John Ferree
Larry,
I suspect that you have discovered Tejano. Congratulations!
Tejano is the wonderful, vibrant, and energetic music of the hispanic
population in Texas - sometimes called "TexMex". Selena - the young
singer who was killed a couple of years ago - was a Tejano artist. So
is Freddy Fender who has one of the great voices in the world! One of
the best-known is Flaco Jimenez...but there are many others. Flaco
plays a mean buttonbox. Borders and some of the other larger music
stores usually has a pretty good selection of Tejano available.
There's lots of information on the web including a discussion group
or two. Go to Yahoo! and type Tejano. Enjoy!
John Ferree
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Mexican accordion
Larry Pope
I've had three suggestions as to what I heard on the radio:
Conjunto, "Chicken Scratch" or Tejano
Maybe it can be narrowed down a little better for me.
Are these all just variations of the same Mexican folk style?
Is the accordion the dominate instrument in all of these forms,
even to the point of overpowering the singer or singers???
I'm not being picky ... I'd just like to narrow it down then
try to find the same thing so I can listen to it without it
fading in and out (as it was when I was trying to cross the
miles and miles of miles (nothing) on my way to Boulder).
Thanks,
Larry
Eric Sandrich
lar...@allensysgroup.com (Larry Pope) wrote:
::
::I've had three suggestions as to what I heard on the radio:
::
:: Conjunto, "Chicken Scratch" or Tejano
::
I believe that "Chicken Scratch" is officially called "Waila" music and it
comes from the Tohono O'odham people of southern Arizona. It is a bit
similar to tejano except for the fact that there tends to be no vocals and
a lot of guitar and alto sax. But both styles use diatonic accordion to
the max!! (There is a guy named Michael Salgado who plays tejano with a
piano accordion -- I guess there's hope for me yet.)
Eric Sandrich
es...@azstarnet.com
Greg Vozar
Larry Pope wrote:
>
> I've had three suggestions as to what I heard on the radio:
>
> Conjunto, "Chicken Scratch" or Tejano
>
> Are these all just variations of the same Mexican folk style?
Actually Conjunto or Tejano is 'American' in the same way that jazz is.
It was born in the Rio Grande Valley (in Texas) somewhat after the turn
of the century. There were large amounts of German immigrants in the
area as well as Latino, and each group brought their own indiginous
music with them. While the two cultures did not mix, the Latinos
gradually adopted the accordion and some popular dance forms (polka,
schotische, mazurka) they heard the German "Oom-Pah" bands playing. They
applied this musical style to some of their own Mexican musical forms
(ranchera, redova, danzon, huapango) and the hybrid Tejano (or Texan)
music was born. It eventually spread down into Mexico from the USA and
was therefore called Norteno (or 'Northern') by Mexicans. It is only
partially a 'Mexican' form, and it was born on American soil.
>
> Is the accordion the dominate instrument in all of these forms,
> even to the point of overpowering the singer or singers???
>
It was originally, but the accordion suffered a decline as Tejano music
gathered more glitter and polish, culminating in big-draw artists like
Selena. There always has been an audience for Conjunto in its raw, basic
folk-type format, and more recently, there has been a big resurgence of
popular interest in this as well as all kind of 'grass-roots' music.
This has brought the small accordion & bajo sexto (bass 12-string
guitar) group back into prominence. Usually (although not always) in a
smaller group, the accordionist IS the singer (Flaco Jimenez, Mingo
Salizar). I would imagine that the dominance of accordion over vocals is
more a problem with over-miking the instrument rather than intentional.
Public Television recently did a great documentary on Tejano music, they
interviewed a number of people who were involved in it as far back as
the 1930's. If you call or write your local PBS station you can ask them
about "Songs of the Homeland;" it may be available on video tape. All
the above information came from this documentary (and the liner notes of
a few great Arhoolie CD's of historic recordings)
Hope this answers your questions, and if you enjoy it, keep listening!
Sincerely, Greg Vozar
Greg Bullough
In article <1.5.4.32.1997042...@mail.allensysgroup.com> lar...@allensysgroup.com (Larry Pope) writes:
>Squeezers,
>
>As I was driving across the empty stretches of Texas a week ago
>last Sunday morning I tried to find a "NPR" station for my morning fix.
>I did not find a "NPR" station but I stumbled onto what must have been
>a Mexican station from across the border. For almost an hour (the station
>faded out) I listened to music featuring the accordion and Spanish
>language lyrics.
Reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live sketch where a caricature
of a Los Angeles-area Spanish-language radio station announcer appears,
looking like a cross between Gary Owens and Clark Gable.
You hear the tail end of a mariachi tune, and the broadcaster proudly
announces 'Ah, la musica de Bruce Springsteen...'
In much of the Southwest your car-radio choices are two: Spanish
stations and 'And now let us praiiiiiiiiise Him who put us here
on this earth to do His works....'
>Any idea what form of Mexican music this could be?? To me it sounded
>like a slow polka with Spanish lyrics and typical Mexican themes in
>the melody, not familiar to me at all but very nice.
What you heard is almost certainly Norteno music, which is in fact
not so much a Mexican genre but rather a distinctly Mexican-American
phenomenon. When the Mexican (mostly) agricultural workers in Texas
merged their traditional styles with influences of Europeans (all of
this happened not in the age of Sam Houston, but early this century)
and produced this sort of 'Accordion Mariachi' which has since taken
off and is heard from San Francisco to Mazatlan to Houston and back.
It is to music what 'Tex-Mex' food is to cuisine.
The accordion is most properly a 3-row diatonic (often G/C/F) but
piano accordions are popular among some of the middle-aged set
who grew up when diatonic boxes were too 'old fashioned.' By
the way, they are so oriented towards the treble side that they
normally REMOVE the bass reeds and have nothing but air-buttons
on the left hand as a result. That lightens the box and also
allows for very fast recovery of 'out of bellows' situations.
These guys use A LOT of air on the right side because they
play a lot of thick chords.
If you have occasion to pick up a Gabinelli (the Cadillac of
Norteno boxes) you'll notice that the air button is big and
fat and really makes a BIG leak when you open it all the way.
Still, the majority of players are still playing Hohner
Corona II and III boxes, not from economic need but by
choice. The light instrument has that edgy brilliance
and is easy to fling around. You can assume, however, that
the inside of the box has had some rather careful clean
up and tuning.
You could do worse than to start with a couple of albums by Flaco
Jimenez, which should be available in the Spanish- or Latin-music
area of any decent record store.
To me, the most exciting thing about the music is that it has rolled
into the world of popular music without missing a beat. The 'Tejano'
music which you see so much of on the Hispanic cable channels and of
which the late, lamented 'Selena' was such a big part is just an
extention of the Norteno tradition. It is very cool, indeed to
see button box players up on stage in front of screaming fans,
many in their teens.
Many gringos claimed that 'Los Lobos' were some sort of pioneers
because they traveled with a brace of Hohner Corona button boxes.
From their tradition, such a label must be strange, indeed, because
the accordions where as basic to pop music as the electric guitar
is to the gringo. Just like Cajun, Norteno revolves around the
squeeze box.
As I've had more occasion to step out of the Anglo-Saxon Folk mold
and into more Carribean, Latin, and (heavens) Rock & Roll styles,
I've drawn a great deal on my observations of the Norteno players
in trying to figure out what to do with the button accordion in
different situations. They have much to teach that Morris tunes
and Irish tunes and New England Contra music completely ignores.
Greg
Paul M. Gifford
>Actually Conjunto or Tejano is 'American' in the same way that jazz is.
>It was born in the Rio Grande Valley (in Texas) somewhat after the turn
>of the century. There were large amounts of German immigrants in the
>area as well as Latino, and each group brought their own indiginous
>music with them. While the two cultures did not mix, the Latinos
>gradually adopted the accordion and some popular dance forms (polka,
>schotische, mazurka) they heard the German "Oom-Pah" bands playing. They
>applied this musical style to some of their own Mexican musical forms
>(ranchera, redova, danzon, huapango) and the hybrid Tejano (or Texan)
>music was born. It eventually spread down into Mexico from the USA and
>was therefore called Norteno (or 'Northern') by Mexicans. It is only
>partially a 'Mexican' form, and it was born on American soil.
>>
Good post, but I wonder about just how the round dances (polka, waltz,
schottische, etc.) were introduced. The polka, waltz, schottische, mazurka,
and redowa were all fashionable dances at European courts. The polka was
introduced to New York in 1846, for example, by a dancing master who learned
it in Paris, who then taught it, and it soon caught on in the rest of the
country. The schottische dates from the early 1850s, and a similar fashion
happened. In the US as a whole, the mazurka (popular in the 1890s) and
redowa didn't last.
What I'm saying is that these dances were probably introduced to upper-class
Mexican society in a similar way. From Mexico City they would have spread to
other cities, then down the social ladder.
Perhaps German immigrants popularized the accordion, but if they were
responsible for introducing those dances, we should expect that songs like
"Ach du lieber Augustin" would be Tex-Mex standards, it seems to me. Also,
I think that schottisches in Germany are often called rheinlaenders. And if
there was little social contact, the transmission of dances from Germany
would seem unlikely. We should probably expect that square dances (quadrilles,
cotillions, cuadrillas) were introduced, but didn't last, and they would have
been introduced in a similar way as I suggested for polkas and waltzes.
Paul Gifford
Tim D.
In his video on playing Tejano/Conjunto accordion, Flaco Jimenez
describes the transition music (waltzes, polkas, etc.) played by
German immigrants who settled in Mexico playing bass on the left hand of
the
3-row diatonic to music (waltzes, polkas, etc.) played by hispanic
residents
of the region using the Bajo Sexto for bass instead of using the left hand
on
the accordion. Flaco credits his father, the incredible Santiago Jimenez
Sr.
with this innovation.
Tex-Mex/Conjunto is a rich, vibrant exciting music with an incredible range
from hot jumping dance tunes to sad tearful romantic pieces.
Listen to some Flaco, or for roots go to Santiago Jimenez or Valerio
Longoria.
Or any of the hundreds of other hot musicians in the genre!
--Tim
John Ferree <john_...@mail.ehnr.state.nc.us> wrote in article
<00001E...@mail.ehnr.state.nc.us>...
Ted Samsel
Larry Pope (lar...@allensysgroup.com) wrote:
: Squeezers,
:
: As I was driving across the empty stretches of Texas a week ago
: last Sunday morning I tried to find a "NPR" station for my morning fix.
: I did not find a "NPR" station but I stumbled onto what must have been
: a Mexican station from across the border. For almost an hour (the station
: faded out) I listened to music featuring the accordion and Spanish
: into the recesses of my mind so I did not understand the announcer or
: anything they were singing but it was delightful ... the accordion was
: quite prominent. This was more accordion music on the radio in one hour
: than I had heard on the radio all year.
Be still my heart!
:
: Any idea what form of Mexican music this could be?? To me it sounded
: like a slow polka with Spanish lyrics and typical Mexican themes in
: the melody, not familiar to me at all but very nice.
The slow ones could have been corridos, a narrative ballad form with
roots in pre-Reconquista Arabic Spain & Portugal.
:
: Thanks,
: Larry
:
: (BTW ... for those overseas, NPR is "National Public Radio" ... commercial
: free and listener supported. Also about the only place you can find
: news broadcasts on FM anymore!)
:
:
--
Ted Samsel....tejas@infi.net
"do the boogie woogie in the South American way"
Rhumba Boogie- Hank Snow (1955)
Ted Samsel
Re: German influence in conjunto: The Germans had company stores
along the railroad right-of-ways during the railroad building
boom in the late 19th c. in Mexico. They sold accordions at these
stores.
& don't forget the Czech & Polish influence: a substantial number
of Czechs and Poles settled in S & Central Texas in the 1840s-50s.
See Pe~a's text on the history of conjunto music. He's a professor
of ethnomusicology (I believe) at some U in Califas.
Don't have the title available.....
Seguro que hell yes..
(Check out Santiago Jimenez Jr's CDs. he's much more traditional than
his big brother, Flaco.. others to hear Valerio Longoria, Esteban Jordan,
Mingo Saldivar, Los Alegres de Teran..y mucho mas!!)
Ted Samsel
bohus wrote:
:
: Not necessarily so, if I may disagree. The European people (*not*
: solely the Germans) introduced the musical *form* of polka, waltz,
: schottische, etc. The Mexican people borrowed the form of "Ach du
: leiber Augustin", and not the actual song itself. OTOH, I have heard
: of Tex-Mex versions of the "Beer Barrel Polka", so who knows. :-)
The Mexican version of BBP is called LOS BARRILITOS (the little barrels).
I've got a few versions on vinyl, esp. by Los Alegres de Teran.
:
: > Also,
: >I think that schottisches in Germany are often called rheinlaenders. And if
: >there was little social contact, the transmission of dances from Germany
: >would seem unlikely. We should probably expect that square dances (quadrilles,
: >cotillions, cuadrillas) were introduced, but didn't last, and they would have
: >been introduced in a similar way as I suggested for polkas and waltzes.
The European dances got their big start during the French Encursion
into Mexico... I have heard that the word "mariachi" comes from the
French "mariage" .. something to do with the musical entertainment
at wedding parties. In fact, the up-coming CINCO DE MAYO is the
celebration of the Battle of Puebla, where the Mexicans whupped up
on the French (they call it the Battle of Camerone and was one of
their worst defeats). In fact, the French Foreign Legion commemorates
it in the same manner they commemorate Dien Bien Phu.
Dennis
> "Ach du lieber Augustin" would be Tex-Mex standards, it seems to me. Also,
> I think that schottisches in Germany are often called rheinlaenders. And if
> there was little social contact, the transmission of dances from Germany
> would seem unlikely. We should probably expect that square dances (quadrilles,
> cotillions, cuadrillas) were introduced, but didn't last, and they would have
> been introduced in a similar way as I suggested for polkas and waltzes.
>
> Paul Gifford
Paul-
The Schottische (sp?) did survive as a dance form in Northern Mexico and
Southern Texas. It is known as as shotis (show-teece, accent on the last
syllable). I don't know if the steps are the same. After all, an Irish
polka, a Mexican polka, and a German polka are all danced quite
differently.
Incidentally, the =bandas= of Mexico and the southwestern U.S. are also
thought to be descendants of the German brass bands.
Dennis
Larry Pope wrote:
>
> I've had three suggestions as to what I heard on the radio:
>
> Conjunto, "Chicken Scratch" or Tejano
>
> Maybe it can be narrowed down a little better for me.
>
> Are these all just variations of the same Mexican folk style?
>
> even to the point of overpowering the singer or singers???
>
> try to find the same thing so I can listen to it without it
> fading in and out (as it was when I was trying to cross the
> miles and miles of miles (nothing) on my way to Boulder).
>
> Thanks,
> Larry
Contact Arhoolie Records, Rounder, and the like. They have pretty good
Tex-Mex catalogs with Flaco, Steve (Esteban) Jordan, Narciso Martinez,
Los Alegres de Teran, Valerio Longorio, among others. There are also
some good videos around. PBS just recently re-broadcast a good one,
Songs of the Homeland, here in the Los Angeles area. San Antonio has a
big Conjunto/Tejano Festival in mid-May. Call information there and ask
for the number for the Guadalupe Cultural Center for more info.
I've been fortunate enough to meet and dance to some of these artists in
person. It's wonderful music.
Paul M. Gifford
In article <33629161...@news.mindspring.com> bohus writes:
>>>>
>>Good post, but I wonder about just how the round dances (polka, waltz,
>>schottische, etc.) were introduced. The polka, waltz, schottische, mazurka,
>>and redowa were all fashionable dances at European courts. The polka was
>>introduced to New York in 1846, for example, by a dancing master who learned
>>it in Paris, who then taught it, and it soon caught on in the rest of the
>>country. The schottische dates from the early 1850s, and a similar fashion
>>happened. In the US as a whole, the mazurka (popular in the 1890s) and
>>redowa didn't last.
>>What I'm saying is that these dances were probably introduced to upper-class
>>Mexican society in a similar way. From Mexico City they would have spread to
>>other cities, then down the social ladder.
>>
>>Perhaps German immigrants popularized the accordion, but if they were
>>responsible for introducing those dances, we should expect that songs like
>>"Ach du lieber Augustin" would be Tex-Mex standards, it seems to me.
>Not necessarily so, if I may disagree. The European people (*not*
>solely the Germans) introduced the musical *form* of polka, waltz,
>schottische, etc. The Mexican people borrowed the form of "Ach du
>leiber Augustin", and not the actual song itself. OTOH, I have heard
>of Tex-Mex versions of the "Beer Barrel Polka", so who knows. :-)
What I'm saying is that the popularity of waltzes, polkas, schottisches,
mazurkas, etc., is more probably due to Mexican fashions spreading
upwards from Mexico City and down the social scale, rather than from
direct, informal social contact between Germans and Czechs and Mexicans.
I know the influence from European fashions at Maximilian's court is
usually considered to be responsible. However, the polka, waltz, and
schottische were popular before Maximilian, so couldn't a Mexico City
dancing master have gone to Paris and learned them just like Allen
Dodworth, New York City's leading dancing master did, then returned
to teach them to the upper classes in Mexico City? This makes more
sense to me. All I'm trying to do is to clarify how they were transmitted
from Europe.
I know there are differences between the same dances in different
cultures. The Finnish-American schottische, for example, is different
from the "general American" schottische, with different tunes. The old
"heel and toe" polka, which some old-timers in Michigan could dance
25 years ago, for example, is the original 1840s polka, more like a
schottische than the 1940s polka. BTW, the Canadians say "shottees"
too, which is kind of curious.
Paul Gifford
Greg Vozar
Any newsgroup subscribers who are interested in this fascinating
bi-cultural fusion of music (as I am) really should check out the PBS
documentary I mentioned in my original post: Songs of the Homeland. I
grew up in a German/Slovak household and this kind of music was a
staple, just like dumplings and sauerkraut! What a shock it was to hear
folks from another culture doing a better and fancier job at it!
I can't promise this program is available on tape, but occasionally when
enough people write and request such things, they will sometimes put one
out. Fortunately a family member who knows my passion for accordion
noticed it and taped it for me. There are a fair number of interviews of
folks that remember the "good old days" quite well. You will hear
first-hand accounts of Latino boys listening to the German bands and
coming home to try the music on home-made instruments, later saving
money to buy a diatonic box on which to play them. There are also some
good music clips of a number of Tejano accordion players.
Greg Vozar
Pardon my interrupted post! I'm in the S. Calif. area and we had a pair
of earthquakes three minutes apart. After the first, I pushed the "send"
button and ran!
To conclude: There are lots of historical photos as well. The
documentary was produced by Hector Galan and narrated by Freddie Fender.
KHSEKARP
"The Texas-Mexican Conjunto: History of a Working-Class Music" by Manuel
Pena(University of Texas Press, Austin, TX) is the book to get for the
real lowdown on norteno/tex-mex/conjunto.
Ken
KHSEKARP
Chicken Scratch is the music of the Tohono Odham(spelling?) Native
Americans from Arizona. Strictly instrumental, I believe, and truly
delightful. you can order from Canyon Records in PHoenix(Ticson?),
Arizona. (I'll look for the address.
Ken
Bob Godfried
KHSEKARP <khse...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19970427144...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
Their address is:
Canyon Records Productions, Inc.
4143 North 16th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85016
My favorite is CR-8082 - Gu-achi Fiddlers: Old Time O'odham Fiddle
Music. Although this group does not use accordion, the music is
simply delightful. The Tohono O'odham, meaning "the desert people",
were formally known as the Papago Indians.
Bayou Seco, who are Ken Keppler & Jeanie McLerie have recorded music
from New Mexico featuring local Mexican-American musicians on their
Ubik Sound label. Request their catalog at: Bayo...@aol.com
--
Bob Godfried
Bronx, NYC
godf...@dti.net
Eric Sandrich
khse...@aol.com (KHSEKARP) wrote:
::
::Chicken Scratch is the music of the Tohono Odham(spelling?) Native
::Americans from Arizona. Strictly instrumental, I believe, and truly
::delightful. you can order from Canyon Records in PHoenix(Ticson?),
::Arizona. (I'll look for the address.
::
::Ken
Canyon Records
4143 N 16th St, Suite 6
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Eric Sandrich
es...@azstarnet.com