Tejano music (Spanish: música tejana), also called Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style that combines American and Mexican influences. Its development started in northern Mexico, which is a type of regional Mexican music called norteño.
In the late 20th century, Tejano music became more popular because of performers and groups like Mazz, Selena, La Mafia, Ram Herrera, La Sombra, Elida Reyna, Elsa García, Laura Canales, Intocable, Jay Perez, Emilio Navaira, Esteban "Steve" Jordan, Shelly Lares, David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, Jennifer Peña, and La Fiebre.
Origins
The development of early Tejano music was shaped by the mixing of traditional styles, such as the corrido and mariachi, with European influences like the polka, brought by German, Polish, and Czech settlers in the late 1800s. Around the start of the 20th century, Tejano musicians began using the accordion, which became a popular instrument for amateur players in Texas and northern Mexico. Small musical groups called orquestas, made up of amateur musicians, became common at community dances. Early Tejano music showed both musical creativity and new cultural themes that challenged the ideas of the dominant society.
At the start of the 20th century, Tejanos were mainly involved in ranching and farming. Few people had access to music except for traveling musicians who visited ranches and farms. These musicians used simple instruments like the flute, guitar, and drum, and sang songs passed down from earlier generations in Mexico. One such musician was Lydia Mendoza, who became one of the first to record Spanish language music when RCA expanded its recordings in the 1920s. These traveling musicians often performed in areas where German Texans and other European settlers lived.
Narciso Martínez, known as the "Father of Conjunto Music," helped define the accordion’s role in conjunto music. He learned songs from German, Polish, and Czech brass bands and adapted them for the accordion. In the 1930s, Martínez improved his accordion skills by using a two-button row accordion. Around the same time, he formed a group with a bajo sexto player named Santiago Almeida.
With the accordion, drums, and bajo sexto, Tejanos developed a unique sound. In the 1940s, Valerio Longoria added lyrics to conjunto music, strengthening Tejano ownership of this new style.
In the 1950s, Isidro Lopez changed the Tejano sound by using Tex-Mex instead of traditional Spanish, creating a newer style closer to today’s sound. In the 1960s and 1970s, groups like Little Joe and The Latinaires (later La Familia), The Latin Breed, and Luis Ramirez Y su Latin Express added orchestra sounds to Tejano music, influenced by pop and R&B. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, new groups like Espejismo, led by Rudy Valdez, and musicians such as Joe Lopez, Jimmy Gonzalez, and Mazz introduced keyboards to Tejano music, inspired by the disco style of the time. During this period, La Mafia became the first Tejano band to perform rock-style shows for their generation.
History
Tejano musicians such as Flaco Jiménez and Esteban Steve Jordan continued the tradition of accordion skill started by Martinez. By the 1980s, these musicians became well-known internationally in the World Music scene.
During the 1950s and 1960s, rock and roll and country music became more popular. Electric guitars and drums were added to conjunto musical groups. Performers like Little Joe also included elements of soul and R&B music, along with themes related to Chicano identity. Other popular musicians of the 1960s included Little Joe, Estevan Jordan, The Royal Jesters, Romances, Carlos Guzman, Joe Bravo, Dimas Three, Chuck & the Dots, the Sky Tones, the Broken Hearts, the Volumes, and Sunny Ozuna and the Sunliners.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a new style of Chicano music emerged, and the first La Onda Tejana radio broadcasters began. Paulino Bernal, a Tejano musician and producer, discovered and introduced the norteño band Los Relampagos del Norte, featuring Ramón Ayala and Cornelio Reyna, through his record label Bego Records. Ayala continued to achieve success in both the United States and Mexico. Reyna had a successful career as an actor and solo singer and later returned to the Tejano scene with a major hit while working with the Tejano band La Mafia. He performed regularly until his death. During this time, early La Onda Tejana radio pioneers, such as Marcelo Tafoya (first recipient of the Tejano Music Awards "Lifetime Achievement Award"), Ramiro "Snowball" de la Cruz, Mary Rodriguez, Rosita Ornelas, and Luis Gonzalez, began broadcasting. Later, the Davila family of San Antonio joined the effort. This support from radio broadcasters in central Texas helped grow La Onda’s influence.
In 1987, Gloria Anzaldúa wrote:
La Onda’s popularity increased in the early to mid-1980s as Tejano music blended with other styles. Tejano ballads like Espejismo’s hit "Somos Los Dos," written and sung by Rudy Valdez from McAllen, and La Sombra’s mix of Tex-Mex English and Spanish became popular. As the 1990s began, La Mafia, which had already won over a dozen Tejano Music Awards, introduced a new Tejano style that later became a standard. Starting to tour as early as 1988, La Mafia helped open doors for artists like Selena Quintanilla, Emilio Navaira, Jay Perez, and Mazz. Electronic instruments and synthesizers became more common in Tejano music, and the genre attracted fans who liked both English and Spanish music. After Selena Quintanilla’s murder, her music gained attention from a wider American audience. Known as "The Queen of Tejano Music," Selena became the first female Tejano artist to win a Grammy. Her album Ven Conmigo was the first Tejano album by a female artist to be certified gold.
Since the end of the 20th century, Tejano music has seen fewer radio stations dedicated to it in the United States. One reason is the success of the group Intocable. As a result, many radio stations, especially in Texas, have shifted to playing Norteño/banda music. This change has led to the growth of Tejano internet radio.
At the start of the 21st century, Tejano music’s influence declined because of less promotion, the rise of Regional Mexican and other Latin music, the retirement or breakup of popular performers, and the lack of new artists. Many Tejano musicians who were active during the 1990s, when the genre was most popular, now perform less frequently and receive less attention. However, today’s Tejano music, while more pop-oriented than its earlier forms, remains a regional style in many Tejano communities and parts of the United States.
Development
Tejano music originated in Texas. Even though it has influences from Mexico and other Latin American countries, the main influences come from the United States. The music styles that make up Tejano include folk music, roots music, rock, R&B, soul music, blues, country music, and Latin styles such as norteño, mariachi, and Mexican cumbia. Tejano musicians like Emilio and Raulito Navaira, David Lee Garza, and Jay Perez show influence from rock and roots music.
Tejano music has several categories and types of bands. Three major categories are conjunto, orchestra/orquesta, and modern. A conjunto band is made up of accordion, bajo sexto, electric bass, and drums. Examples of conjunto bands include Esteban "Steve" Jordan and The Hometown Boys. An orchestra/orquesta includes bass, drums, electric guitar, synthesizer, and a brass section, which is important for its sound. Examples of modern bands are Ruben Ramos and the Texas Revolution, The Liberty Band, The Latin Breed, La Mafia, Selena Quintanilla, La Sombra, Elida Reyna y Avante, Los Palominos, David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, Shelly Lares, Jay Perez, and Mazz.
The Mexican influence on Tejano music has made its sound increasingly similar to norteño. The accordion, which was once a secondary instrument in Tejano music, is now a required instrument. Today, groups like Sunny Sauceda, Eddie Gonzalez, and La Tropa F highlight the accordion in their music.
Music industry
After World War II, local and regional companies began recording and selling Tejano music. Important reasons for Tejano music's growth include more different cultures in the United States and better chances to earn money and work, which allowed Mexican American musicians to perform and record music for people in their areas. In the 1940s, early forms of Tejano music, such as female duets and orquesta tejana, influenced the development of Tex-Mex style in the 1950s and La Onda Chicana (The Chicano Wave) in the 1960s. The increasing popularity of accordion music and records made by local artists created a need for Tejano music producers and record labels.
Companies like Discos Ideal, started in San Benito, Texas in 1947, and Freddie Records, started in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1970, are well-known for making conjunto style music. Freddie Records, named after its founder, Freddie Martinez, Sr., has continued to play an important role in producing Tejano music into the 21st century.
Influence
The term "Tex-Mex" is also used in American rock and roll music to describe musicians who play Tejano-style songs. These musicians include groups like the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados (which features Flaco Jiménez, Freddy Fender, Augie Meyers, and Doug Sahm), Los Super Seven, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Los Lobos, Latin Playboys, Louie and the Lovers, The Champs, Ry Cooder, Calexico, Los Lonely Boys, The Mavericks, Son de Rey, and Selena y Los Dinos.
Texan accordion music has influenced musicians from the Basque region of Spain who play a traditional instrument called trikitixa.
A modern composer from Sweden and America, Sven-David Sandström, has used styles from Tejano music in his classical compositions.
Tejano and conjunto music are very popular. Organizations like the Guadalupe Arts Center in San Antonio, Texas, hold annual festivals to celebrate this music. These events feature famous musicians, conjunto groups from around the world, and modern artists.
Tejano music female singers of the late 1980s and 1990s
Many Tejano female singers from the late 1980s and 1990s are not well-known because they received little attention from the media. At that time, the media focused on famous singers such as Selena, Laura Canales, Elsa García, Elida Reyna, and Shelly Lares. These singers became famous because they had strong voices, talented producers, skilled musicians, and record companies that helped promote their music. Other Tejano female singers, like Lynda V (and the Boys) and Letty Guval, also made important contributions to Tejano music during the 1990s, but their stories are less known.
Lynda V (and the Boys) started her band in 1988. In 1990, she signed a record contract with Bob Griever and CBS Records. Two years later, she signed with Capitol EMI, a major record company. Lynda V and the Boys continued to perform together until 2005.
Letty Guval began her music career in 1994 after singing with the University of Texas Pan American Mariachi Band in Edinburg for two years. She signed a record contract with Wicker Records in 1994 and later signed a four-year contract with Fonovisa-Platino Records. Her career was short, but she became the first female Tejano artist invited to perform at the White House during the Clinton administration in 1994.
In an article, Kelly James from the South Bend Tribune wrote, "Born in California, raised in Mexico, and educated in Texas, Guval includes her experience living in different cultures in her music." In his book, Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr. wrote about Lynda V and Letty Guval, stating, "EMI Latin had five relatively new female acts: Stephanie Lynn, Elsa García, Lynda V. and the Boys, Agnes Torres of the New Variety Band, and Delia y Culturas." About Letty Guval, San Miguel wrote, "Sometimes, Tejano musicians added short musical elements from other styles. For example, Letty Guval included a few seconds of banda rhythms in her ranchera song 'Sentimiento' in the mid-1990s."
Both Lynda V and Letty Guval performed across the United States and Mexico. In the 1990s, they performed at events such as the Tejano Music Awards and the Johnny Canales Show.