Tejano music, also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican and US influences. Its evolution began in northern Mexico.
Tejanos are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent.
Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is an American singer, songwriter and accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. He is known for playing Norteño, Tex Mex and Tejano music. Jiménez has been a solo performer and session musician, as well as a member of the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven.
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. It is a one-time only award and fellows must be living citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Each year, fellowships are presented to between nine and fifteen artists or groups at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
The Centro Cultural de la Raza is a non-profit organization with the specific mission to create, preserve, promote and educate about Chicano, Mexicano, Native American and Latino art and culture. It is located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The cultural center supports and encourages the creative expression “of the indigenous cultures of the Americas.” It is currently a member of the American Alliance of Museums.
Rafael C. Castillo is an American writer, who was the first editor of ViAztlan: an international journal of Arts and Letters established in San Antonio, Texas, in 1979. The journal was funded through the City of San Antonio and the culture-based arts organization Centro Cultural de Aztlan. A veteran freelance writer, Castillo authored articles germane to the Mexican-American community and established philosophy-based issues and supported international causes that promoted Mexican American arts and letters. He later served as contributing editor of The Saguaro,a literary journal published at the University of Arizona, Tucson. In 1985, Castillo visited Paris, France, and met briefly with David Appelfield, editor of FRANK, an international literary journal, and became its San Antonio correspondent. In 2001, Castillo was asked to serve on the editorial board of Puentes, an international bilingual journal based at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.
Santiago Jiménez Jr. is an American folk musician who received a National Heritage Fellowship in 2000 for lifetime achievement in traditional Tex-Mex/folk music, and a National Medal of Arts in 2016. He has been nominated for three Grammys.
Narciso Martínez, was a Mexican folk musician. His nickname was El Huracan del Valle. He began recording in 1935 and is the father of conjunto music. The Spanish word conjunto means 'group' and in El Valle de Tejas that means accordion, bajo sexto, and contrabajo. The same year, he and Santiago Almeida recorded their first 78 rpm record containing the polka "La Chicharronera" and the schottishche "El Tronconal" for Bluebird Records, which quickly became a success.
The culture of San Antonio reflects the history and culture of one of the state's oldest and largest cities straddling the regional and cultural divide between South and Central Texas. Historically, San Antonio culture comes from a blend of Central Texas and South Texas (Southwestern) culture. Founded as a Spanish outpost and the first civil settlement in Texas, San Antonio is heavily influenced by Mexican American culture due to Texas formerly being part of Mexico and, previously, the Spanish Empire. The city also has significant German, Anglo, and African American cultural influences. San Antonio offers a host of cultural institutions, events, restaurants and nightlife in South Texas for both residents and visitors alike.
Santiago Almeida was a Texas musician influential in the development of the musical genres of tejano and conjunto.
Pedro Ayala, called "El Monarca del Acordeón", was a Mexican accordionist and songwriter from General Terán, Nuevo León, Mexico. Pedro Ayala was a pioneer of conjunto music with his distinctive accordion playing, receiving a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for his contribution to conjunto and folk music.
Arturo Castillo, Jr., better known as AJ Castillo, is an American singer of Mexican descent. He is a cumbia, and Tejano music recording artist, accordionist, singer, performer, and producer. His debut album, "Who I Am", was released in 2009. His second album, On My Way, was released in 2010. Castillo won Best New Artist – Male at the 2010 Tejano Music Awards.
Julian S. Garcia has been involved in Chicano literature since the late 1970s when the San Antonio arts and politics journal Caracol had its offices on West Commerce Street in San Antonio, Texas. In 1985, Garcia became one of Caracol's associate editors. He was also an Associate editor of ViAztlan, an international journal of ideas and philosophy. A deconstructionist with a penchant for Aristotelian logic and a mentor to Tejano writers, Garcia has a written articles and editorials under a nom-de-plume.
Ideal Records was a record label from Texas specializing in Tejano music. It became the most important record label of the genre in the 1940s and 1950s, recording tejano's most prominent artists. It declined in the early 1960s, but not before leaving an indelible mark on Tex-Mex culture.
Carmen y Laura were a Mexican-American sister musical act who were considered a Tejano version of the Andrews Sisters. They were the first artists to record for Ideal Records.
Corona Records was a San Antonio-based label which helped establish the Tejano musical style. It was formed by Manuel Rangel, Sr. Valerio Longoria made his first records for Corona in an electrical repair shop in 1947, which was also Corona's first release, and stayed for two years with several regional hits, before signing to Ideal Records. Little Joe was signed to the label for a short time. Lydia Mendoza recorded several titles for the label between 1955 and 1966. The label recorded most San Antonio-based tejano artists of note, but the company kept no recording or sales ledgers. The label released several hundreds of records, and was active into the 1970s.
Eva Ybarra known as the "Queen of the Accordion", is a professional conjunto musician.
A Mi San Antonio is the debut album by the American musician Eva Ybarra, released in 1994. She is credited with her band, Su Conjunto. While incorporating many musical styles, the album is primarily in the Tejano conjunto idiom.
Roberto Gonzalez is a Chicano artist, curator, and musician. He was a member of the San Antonio-based Con Safo art group in the mid-1970s. As an artist, he has exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. Gonzalez worked primarily as an abstract artist from the 1970s until the early 2000s, after which time he emphasized pre-Columbian imagery in an effort to engage with his ancestors. He has also worked as a performance artist since 1974. Gonzalez has curated numerous exhibitions, notably at the Carver Cultural Center in San Antonio, where he served as the Fine Arts Administrator (1984-1995). Gonzalez is also a percussion musician who specializes in Pre-Hispanic and African Diaspora music. He has trained with several African Diaspora music masters and has been active in several musical groups.
Linda Escobar is an American singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Queen of Conjunto music", she has been called one of the most influential women of South Texas and one of the most important figures of conjunto music. Escobar rose to fame as a child in 1965 when her song "Frijolitos Pintos" sold a million copies. She embarked on touring alongside her father, Eligio Escobar, spanning the United States, Mexico, and Central America. In 1998, she started the El Veterano Conjunto Festival in San Antonio, Texas, honoring U.S. war veterans on Veterans Day. The festival culminates with the awarding of music scholarships. In 2017, U.S. Representative Filemon Vela Jr. acknowledged Escobar for her contributions to Tejano and conjunto music during Women's History Month. In 2019, she was inducted into the South Texas Music Walk of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tejano Music Awards. With a music catalog of circa 500 songs, Escobar is widely recognized for boasting one of the longest and most prolific music careers in the Tejano market.
