Taste Of Tex Mex, A

Tex-Mex is probably better, and more accurately, known as norteño music, the accordion-based sound which derives both from the polkas played by German immigrants to south Texas (and exemplified here by the horrendous "Beer Barrel Polka") and the traditional corridos, or ballads, of Mexico. The border of the Rio Grande has been an arbitrary divide between Mexico and the United States; it's political and geographic, not cultural, and the music crosses over very fluidly, like that of the great Santiago Jimenez, who's represented here by "Al Mirar Tu Cara." Over the years, norteño has brought in a lot of music, and nowhere is that clearer than the bilingual version of Hank Williams's "Oh Lonesome Me" from Jerry and the Ruf-Nex. The darker side of border life -- immigration -- is the subject of both Los Terribles del Norte's "Me Agarro la Imigracion" and Valerio Longoria's "Los Ilegales," while Santaigo Jimenez ensures the corrido tradition remains strong in "El Corrido De Emilio Cabrerra." The joker in the pack, or at least the Young Turk looking to be king someday, is Steve Jordan, who's acquired a rough-and-ready reputation both for his antics (he wears an eyepatch ), and for the forward vision of his music, which has fixed him in the spearhead of the new Norteño. While his edgy side isn't shown here, his charisma shines on both his tracks. While males make up the majority of Norteño artists, it's not completely a male preserve, as Linda Escobar and Janie C. Ramirez show. They might be in the minority, but the quality of their work is every bit as strong as their male counterparts. A Taste of Tex Mex isn't a perfect introduction to the music, by any means -- too many great groups are ignored to present lesser ones. But if this gives you the taste for the accordion beat, then you'll be digging deeper very soon. ~ Chris Nickson|