Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, known mononymously as Selena, was an American singer. Referred to as the "Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. In 2020, Billboard magazine put her in third place on their list of "Greatest Latino Artists of All Time", based on both Latin albums and Latin songs chart. Media outlets called her the "Tejano Madonna" for her clothing choices. She also ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all time and is credited for catapulting the Tejano genre into the mainstream market.
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.
The term conjunto refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as norteño and tejano, Cuban conjuntos specialize in the son, as well as its derivations such as salsa.
Jose Roberto Pulido Jr., known professionally as Bobby Pulido, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is acclaimed for pioneering the dissemination of Tejano music to a youthful audience, subsequently ascending as a teen idol and becoming one of the most influential Tejano recording artists among Mexican-American teenagers.
Norteño or Norteña, also música norteña, is a subgenre of regional Mexican music. The music is most often based on duple and triple metre and its lyrics often deal with socially relevant topics, although there are also many norteño love songs. The accordion and the bajo sexto are traditional norteño's most characteristic instruments. Norteña music developed in the late 19th century, as a mixture between local Mexican music and Austrian-Czech-origin folk music.
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.
Ven Conmigo is the second studio album by American singer Selena, released on November 12, 1990, by EMI Latin. The singer's brother, A.B. Quintanilla III remained her principal record producer and songwriter after her debut album's moderate success. Selena's Los Dinos band composed and arranged seven of the album's ten tracks; local songwriter Johnny Herrera also provided songs for Selena to record. Ven Conmigo contains half cumbias and half rancheras, though the album includes other genres. Its musical compositions are varied and demonstrate an evolving maturity in Selena's basic Tejano sound. The album's structure and track organization were unconventional compared with other Tejano music albums. The songs on Ven Conmigo are mostly love songs or songs following a woman's struggles after many failed relationships.
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.
Esteban "Steve" Jordan was a jazz, rock, blues, conjunto and Tejano musician from the United States. He was also known as "El Parche", "The Jimi Hendrix of the accordion", and "the accordion wizard". An accomplished musician, he played 35 different instruments.
The Tejano Music Awards (TMA) is an accolade created by former arts teacher and musician Rudy Trevino in 1980. The accolade recognizes outstanding performers of Tejano music, a German polka-based Latin music genre recorded in Spanish or English-language. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by Tejano artists and bands and the presentation of all awards. The Tejano Music Awards are annually presented in San Antonio, Texas, although the ceremony has been presented in other cities such as Eagle Pass, Texas in the past.
Pedro Astudillo, known as Pete Astudillo, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Referred to as "the Latino Babyface", he is regarded as the mastermind behind Selena's sound, as he collaborated or coauthored the singer's top-selling and most popular recordings that cemented him into music history. Astudillo wrote or collaborated on some of the most popular Tejano music songs of the 1990s and was inducted into the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame in 2019. His impact on the United States Latin music scene lies in his role as a songwriter collaborator, according to Billboard magazine.
Mazz is a Tejano band originally from Brownsville, Texas. The band was known for their idiosyncratic and innovative form of Tejano cumbia which made them distinguishable among their counterparts. Mazz became one of the most popular Tejano music bands during the genre's 1990s golden age. Mazz won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and in 2009, the most wins for a Tejano musician. They landed their first major recording contract with EMI Latin in the early 1990s, before switching to Freddie Records in 1999. Joe Lopez and Jimmy Gonzalez formed Mazz in 1978 before disbanding and creating smaller bands throughout their careers. Gonzalez was known for blending a variety of genres into his basic Tejano sound, a formula he continued to use up until his final release, Porque Todavía te Quiero (2018). Gonzalez was pronounced dead in San Antonio, Texas on June 6, 2018, after suffering from low blood sugar as a result of his diabetes.
Emilio H. Navaira III was an American singer-songwriter of Tejano and country music. He is the winner of one Grammy Award and one Latin Grammy Award.
Los Texmaniacs is a conjunto band created by Max Baca in 1997. In 2010 Los Texmaniacs won a Grammy Award for Tejano Album of The Year "Borders y Bailes". Members include Max Baca on bajo sexto, Josh Baca on accordion, Noel Hernandez on electric bass, and Lorenzo Martinez on the drums. Los Texmaniacs have collaborated with various artists from different genres including Rick Trevino, Flaco Jimenez, Los Lobos and King Montana. King Montana aka Tecoloso is Max Baca‘s first cousin on his mother side of the family. King Montana is a Grammy nominated disabled Latin rap artist/songwriter from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has contributed songwriting to Max Baca’s Grammy award winning group Los Texmaniacs. Max Baca is credited with discovering his cousin King Montana. Max Baca produced King Montana’s very first rap song titled “Brown Superman”.
Jonny Martinez is an Tejano Tejano/country singer, producer, arranger, composer, and songwriter, based in San Antonio, Texas. He has positioned himself as an independent artist who is interested in recording authentic Tejano, Tex-Mex and country music. He has been recording since 1988, to include "Que Bonita"(1991 Carino Records), "Caminos Chuecos", "Ron Con Coca Cola" ), "Mujer Mexicana", "La Callejera", "Lo Mejor de Jonny Martinez" "Dedicado A Mi Madre" and "Admirando a Mi Padre". Martinez, owner and producer of AMI Records Latin, signed Rebecca Valadez in 2005 and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2006 for Best Tejano Album. In 2007, he also participated as a recording engineer for Ram Herrera, in which the CD was nominated for Best Tejano Album. In 2008 & 2009, Martinez was involved in yet two more CD projects as an engineer with Grammy Nominations under Sunny Sauceda for Tejas Records.
Elida Reyna also known as Elida is an American Tejano music singer.
David Lee Garza is an American Tejano musician and bandleader. Garza was born and raised in Poteet, Texas.
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 style.
La Diferenzia was an American Tejano music septet group based in San Antonio, Texas. Led by Mexican singer-songwriter Ricardo Castillon, its members included Mexican songwriter Miguel Spindola, saxophonist and keyboardist Raul Arnold, bajo sexto player Omar Cardenas, accordionist Simon Arausa, guitarist Jesse Moya, and Jose Luis Benavides on the drums. The group chose "Diferenzia" to stand out from other Tejano bands and wanted to offer a variety of musical styles. Castillon wanted to provide listeners with Tejano, mariachi, merengue, cumbia, and ballads. Ricardo and his brother, Ramiro Castillon, started La Diferenzia, recording under Manny Guerra's label in the late 1980s. Following Ramiro's death during a car accident in 1991, the group disbanded.
