We spent this week learning about the elemental music genres that formed the foundation of Mexican-Americn conjunto. Despite the excitement of decades of cultural cross-pollination, conjunto only truly came into its own in the 1930 when Narciso Martinez stepped up with his accordion. In the ’20s American record companies, trying to replicate the success they’d found marketing African-American music, had begun to support Mexican-American recording artists, pushing songs by their chosen musicians into jukeboxes, onto the radio and into public dance performances. Musicians like Martinez, who became known s “El Huracan del Valle” — “The Hurricane of the Valley” — took this support as a license to experiment. Mexican-Americans had been attending dances by Texan bands such as Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. They were also submerging themselves in blossoming genres like country, blues, European fiddle music and swing. All this musical exploration helped inspire Martinez to depart from traditional German accordion techniques and develop a prancing style that allowed him to focus on creating melodies while his musical partner Santiago Almeida played the bass notes on the bajo sexto. Martinez’s style became a staple of the genre; the cascading accordion defines conjunto music today. Enjoy!
Tag Archives | Conjunto
¡Viva el Conjunto Bernal!
One of the greatest conjuntos of the 1950s was the Kingsville, Texas, ensemble, El Conjunto Bernal. Anchored by accordionist Paulino Bernal and his bajo sexto-playing player Eloy, El Conjunto Bernal helped conjunto music become popular all around the American Southwest. In this video we watch Bernal perform for adoring fans in 1994 on the Johnny Canales show.
Lydia Mendoza sings “Valentina”
A traditional Mexican ranchera brings us back to simpler times, when ranchers lived rough, yet romantic lives. There is always a story on the ranch, tales of passion and perserverance. In this video ranchera singer Lydia Mendoza introduces us to “Valentina.”
Colas, Colas, Colas y Nicolas
In Veracruz, Mexico, we find the roots of another element of Conjunto. There we find Mexcian Son Jarocho, a hybrid of Spanish poetry and African syncopated rhythms. Son jarocho “fandandos” are community parties; everyone sings, plays a janara, and takes a turn to climb up on the wooden platform, the tarima, to dance.
Bolero, Mariachi-Style
Today, another building block of conjunto — BOLERO! Boleros are traditional romantic songs, passionate and fun. Smithsonian Folkways gives the example in this video: bolero mariachi-style.
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
One building block of Conjunto music is the “Corrido,” a popular genres of narrative songs that tell epic tales of historical struggle and the difficulties of rural life. The corrido is often the tale of hero, his trials and tribulations, and his ultimate victory in the face of adversity. For example, in this video, the band Sparx sings the traditional corrido, “Gregorio Cortez.” The ballad of Gregorio Cortez tells the tale — based on an historical event, but then amply embellished — of a ranch hand from the Texan border lands who was wrongly accused of being a horse thief and heroically evaded capture by a sheriff and his force of 300 men by walking 100 miles and riding more than 400. Learn about the epic tale of Gregorio here.
Conjunto: Bringing Mexico and Texas Together
This week in our online class we’re going to focus on American music from a part of the Unites States that is historically, politically, linguistically, culturally and, most important for our purposes, musically a hybrid of two things. Conjunto music of the Mexican-American communities of Southern Texas is a not just form of entertainment and a conjunto gathering not just a lighthearted excuse to dance. The term conjunto, which in Spanish means “set” or “group,” refers both to the coming-together of a diversity of musical influences from Mexico and Southern Texas to form a culturally unique Mexican-American music genre, but also to the group of musicians that band together to create that music. Conjuntos are community events that allow Texan Mexicans the ability to celebrate their history and culture. Conjuntos are also bands that play all the good old dances–Mexican, German, and more–to playfully, yet powerfully, channel the past.
Over the course of the next week we’re going to look at some of the forms of music that formed the building blocks of conjunto. ¡Vamonos!
