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Elisa de Hoyas is a part of a brand new technology of acordeonistas who’re retaining conjunto thriving by way of educating and efficiency within the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
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Elisa de Hoyas is a part of a brand new technology of acordeonistas who’re retaining conjunto thriving by way of educating and efficiency within the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
John Burnett/NPR
SAN BENITO, Texas — The southern subtropics of Texas, referred to as the Rio Grande Valley, is a geographically and culturally distinct a part of the Lone Star State — as a lot Mexican as Texan — with its personal soundtrack. Conjunto has a thumping backbeat, plaintive vocals and shimmering accordion riffs. This century-old music has been rising amongst a new technology of younger musicians.
Conjunto (pronounced con-HOON-toh) is now supplied as a fine-arts band credit score in no less than a dozen faculties within the Valley and as far north as San Antonio. Because the adage goes: If you wish to protect the music, train it to the youngsters.
Contained in the band corridor at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty, close to Brownsville, within the southernmost tip of Texas, the award-winning scholar group, Conjunto Halcón, is warming up. The drummer counts off “one, two, three…” along with his sticks, the accordion breaks right into a lilting, syncopated intro, and the good-looking twin singers, Daniel and Samuel, kick off Tú Carcel, a broken-hearted track.
Conjunto Halcón, at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty in far South Texas, is the winningest scholar conjunto ensemble in Texas. Which suggests it is the most effective in America.
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Conjunto Halcón, at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty in far South Texas, is the winningest scholar conjunto ensemble in Texas. Which suggests it is the most effective in America.
John Burnett/NPR
“We work with drums, bass, bajo sexto (a 12-string bass guitar), accordion, vocalist,” says program director Juan Longoria Jr. The 44-year-old is a famend acordeonista in his personal proper. “We’ll add typically a saxophone, the congas as effectively. For probably the most half, it is just about conventional conjunto, Norteño, Tejano music.”
Longoria began this system at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty a decade in the past with 13 college students. Final semester he had 100 college students.
Juan Longoria Jr., a famend accordionist in his personal proper, is creator and director of the award-winning conjunto program at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty.
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Juan Longoria Jr., a famend accordionist in his personal proper, is creator and director of the award-winning conjunto program at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty.
John Burnett/NPR
Conjunto, Norteno and Tejano are branches of the identical musical tree. It is a danceable fusion of Mexican, European and American track kinds that developed in South Texas and Northern Mexico over the past 150 years. The accordion affect got here from the polka bands of Czech, Polish and German immigrants. Immediately, conjunto is as acquainted within the Rio Grande Valley because the spindly palm timber, flocks of inexperienced parakeets and orchards of ruby crimson grapefruit.
Just like the blues and bluegrass, conjunto is the music of working individuals, the music of on a regular basis life.
“It is dance music and you need to really feel that thump, you need to really feel that want-to-get-up-and-dance,” Longoria says. “It is completely happy music.”
Within the Valley, the cutthroat highschool conjunto competitors is staged by a nonprofit referred to as La Cultura Vive en Brownsville. This yr’s winner was Palmview Excessive Faculty’s Conjunto La Tradición. 12 months over yr, nonetheless, Los Fresnos’ Conjunto Halcón — of their maroon coats, black cowboy hats and boots — is the winningest scholar ensemble within the Valley. Which suggests it is the most effective in America.
Scholar musicians of the varsity ensemble Conjunto Halcón make music that makes you “really feel that thump,” says band director Juan Longoria Jr. “You are feeling that want-to-get-up-and-dance.”
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Scholar musicians of the varsity ensemble Conjunto Halcón make music that makes you “really feel that thump,” says band director Juan Longoria Jr. “You are feeling that want-to-get-up-and-dance.”
John Burnett/NPR
Conjunto competitors just isn’t sanctioned by the College Interscholastic League. A Texas UIL spokesperson in Austin mentioned no college has requested for conjunto to be a proper class, like mariachi or orchestra.
Longoria says conjunto is handled like a stepchild.
“To some individuals conjunto music just isn’t true music as a result of it is not on paper,” he says. “They do not see it as music as a result of there is no sheet music concerned.”
Up to date conjunto is getting mashed up with hip-hop and reggaetón, and its reputation is spreading to Spanish-speaking neighborhoods far and huge. Longoria has launched some trendy influences, however he tries to maintain it conventional. And the scholars appear to love it that approach.
“It is like a variation of various kinds,” says 18-year-old bass participant Iliana Aguilar. “There’s huapangos, there’s cumbias, there’s polkas, you realize, it is all identical to a Mexican, Tex-Mex sort of favor.”
Conjunto Halcon bassist Iliana Aguilar describes the music as “like a Mexican, Tex-Mex sort of favor. … I really feel like I am participating in my tradition.”
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Conjunto Halcon bassist Iliana Aguilar describes the music as “like a Mexican, Tex-Mex sort of favor. … I really feel like I am participating in my tradition.”
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She says her dad performed conjunto, as did her grandfather. She plans to be a radiologist and preserve performing this music that is in her coronary heart.
“I really feel like I am participating in my tradition,” Aguilar says. “And I really feel like I can present a part of myself within the music. It is only a very nice sort of outlet to indicate my ethnicity.”
Because it occurs, the latest grand champion of the 2023 Large Squeeze Contest, a statewide accordion competitors, was 20-year-old Eligio Martinez. He obtained his begin within the varsity conjunto band at Los Fresnos Excessive Faculty.
“This is without doubt one of the extra exceptional developments with the expansion of those high-school packages within the Valley,” mentioned Charlie Lockwood, outgoing government director of Texas Folklife, which sponsors the Large Squeeze. “These youngsters will not be simply studying how one can play the accordion, however how one can play with different devices, how one can do stage manufacturing and be a band chief. I believe that is actually unbelievable.”
A couple of miles from Los Fresnos is the city of San Benito, which calls itself the birthplace of conjunto.
The legendary Mexican accordionist Narciso Martínez, thought of the daddy of Tex-Mex conjunto, grew up close by. He recorded La Chicharronera and El Troncanal, performed on a two-row button accordion and accompanied by guitarist Santiago Almeida, for Bluebird Information in a San Antonio resort room within the Thirties. They’re believed to be the primary conjunto recordings. Martínez got here to be referred to as the Hurricane of the Valley.
San Benito lately opened the Texas Conjunto Music Corridor of Fame and Museum, the one one among its variety, with a particular exhibit devoted to Martínez. Positioned within the historic Aztec constructing, it is crammed with artifacts collected by lifelong conjunto fanatic Rey Avila. As an example, there is a re-creation of the recording studio of Best Information, the place early conjunto heroes lower their first information in San Benito again within the Nineteen Forties and 50s. The museum celebrates the music born 100 years in the past in cantinas and dance halls throughout the Valley.
“It is only a full of life sort of music,” says Avila’s daughter, Patty, the museum director. “It has quite a lot of feelings — the unhappy tales, the completely happy tales. It simply touches your coronary heart, and I believe that is why my dad wished to protect and preserve it alive for the younger technology.”
Patty Avila, director of the lately opened Texas Conjunto Music Corridor of Fame and Museum in San Benito, says conjunto “has quite a lot of feelings — the unhappy tales, the completely happy tales. It simply touches your coronary heart.”
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Patty Avila, director of the lately opened Texas Conjunto Music Corridor of Fame and Museum in San Benito, says conjunto “has quite a lot of feelings — the unhappy tales, the completely happy tales. It simply touches your coronary heart.”
John Burnett/NPR
Conjunto just isn’t museum music. Avila says the style has by no means been extra in style. She hears it all over the place — on the radio and at weddings and quinceañeras.
As a part of the museum tour, native squeezebox star Elisa De Hoyas and her household band, the Texas Sweethearts, set as much as play a couple of songs. Together with her blue-streaked hair and incandescent smile, the 36-year-old De Hoyas is a charismatic performer. She says the accordion has garnered a cult following, propelled by the college conjunto packages, social media and competitions.
“Conjunto — collectively,” she says, giving the literal translation of the phrase. “The sort of music you are able to do if you get collectively. It is a culture-rich, loving and storytelling music. We need to preserve it going.”
Elisa De Hoyas, accordionist and artist, says conjunto interprets to “collectively.” “The sort of music you are able to do if you get collectively,” she says. “It is culture-rich, loving, storytelling music. We need to preserve it going.”
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Elisa De Hoyas, accordionist and artist, says conjunto interprets to “collectively.” “The sort of music you are able to do if you get collectively,” she says. “It is culture-rich, loving, storytelling music. We need to preserve it going.”
John Burnett/NPR
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