South Texas musician
makes his own breaks
CORPUS CHRISTI
(AP) — Esteban “Steve”
Jordan is a frustrated
man. For much of the past
20 years, he and his band,
Rio Jordan, have been
creating some of the most
unusual and exciting mu
sic ever produced by Tex
ans and yet few people —
outside of South Texas’
Hispanics — have heard
his name or his music.
The music, as difficult
to describe as it is easy to
enjoy, is a unique blend of
South Texas conjunto,
jazz, blues and salsa that
has earned Jordan the la
bel of “the Jimi Hendrix
of the accordion. ”
And now, in his 40th
year of making music, a
combination of events —
the “breaks” the 48-year-
old Jordan has always
longed for — are finally
happening.
David Byrne of New
York’s avant-garde musi
cal group Talking Heads is
featuring Jordan in a
movie, “True Stories.”
Jordan will be seen play
ing the accordion and
singing his autobiographi
cal anthem “Soy de Te-
jas” (“I’m from Texas”).
Byrne also used Jordan’s
accordion work on “Ra
dio Head,” a song from
the group’s next album.
The movie and song will
expose Jordan’s sound to
millions of new ears in the
United States and Eu
rope.
Earlier this year Jordan
signed a three-year re
cording contract with
RCA International. His
second album with the la
bel, “Turn Me Loose,”
has won critical acclaim
although sales of the LP
are low. Jordan, as he has
done on many of his re
cordings, plays all the in
struments on “Turn Me
Loose” — drums, bass,
guitar, percussion and
accordion, as well as pro
ducing the album.
“There is something in
side of Steve Jordan that
wants to explode,” says
Miguel de la Higuera, vice
president of RCA’s Latin
Music U.S. division. “But
now it’s up to Steve. We
have to wait for him. ”
A recent article in
Down Beat magazine
praised Jordan’s music,
saying he combines “a
swaggering stage pres
ence, an inexhaustible
supply of energy, and an
impassioned experimen-
talism to create one of
America’s most unique
musical experiences. ”
News of Jordan’s leg
endary talents is spread
ing quickly in music cir
cles. In June, a crew from
Britain’s Channel 4 tele
vision filmed a live perfor
mance of Jordan and his
band to be broadcast next
year. A month later, he
teamed with Jose Felic
iano on a Budweiser radio
jingle. And in a move that
surely won’t surprise his
old friends, Jordan turned
down an interview with
MTV.
“It was simple, bro,”
Jordan says with charac
teristic jazz lingo spicing
his talk. “They just
wanted to interview me.
But I want my first expo
sure on MTV to be my
music, not me sitting
around B.S.-ing with
some person who doesn’t
know anything about my
music.”
Just a few moments af
ter Steve Jordan’s birth in
the tiny Rio Grande Val
ley town of Elsa in 1938, a
midwife unknowingly
placed a few drops of con
taminated eye solution in
both eyes, causing perma
nent scarring. The acci
dent left him blind in his
right eye and partially
blind in the other.
Born to migrant farm
worker parents (who still
live near Edinburg), Jor
dan grew up with 15
brothers and sisters. His
handicap made learning
difficult and he dropped
out of school in the first
grade. By then he was al
ready singing and playing
guitar, and he began fre
quenting cantinas along
the migrant farmworker
trail.
“I would play and sing,
run errands, shine shoes,
do just about anything for
a nickel,” he says. “That’s
the way it was back in
those days. You did what
you had to to survive, but
I know I missed out on a
lot. I never played mar
bles or baseball with my
friends. Ever since 1 was 7,
I’ve been hanging out
with people who were a
lot older than me.”
In a Roswell, N.M, tav
ern in 1973, Jordan al
most died when he was
stabbed just below his
right rib cage. It took al
most two years of rest be
fore he could play his
accordion again, but he
returned to the Chicano
music world with a hit
song in 1976.
“La Camelia” is one of
Jordan’s all-time classic
ballads and it can still be
found on many jukeboxes
on Corpus Christi’s West
Side.
Steve Jordan’s legacy
of 33 albums and more
than 100 singles leaves
little room for argument
that he is best accordionist
in South Texas and possi
bly the world.
“I said it on my show
last week: Steve Jordan is
the greatest accordion
player we’ve seen in our
time, and that’s no bull,”
declares Johnny Canales,
host of the nationally syn
dicated Hispanic music
TV program “The Johnny
Canales Show.”
Recording star Freddy
Fender, who has been
Jordan’s friend since the
early ’60s, is one of his
biggest supporters.
“There’s nobody who
can touch him,” Fender
says. “I truly believe that
Steve is the most talented
musician I’ve ever known.
The problem is: How do
you harness a talent that
reaches into so many
worlds ... that is so com
plex? Comparing what
he’s doing to what every
body else in the Valley is
doing is like trying to com
pare Beethoven and
Grandpa Jones.”
D.H. Lawrence’s sensual novel
comes to life in the film about
the beautiful young wife of a
war shattered English aristocrat
who finds sexual fulfillment and
compassion with their game-
keeper.
LADY
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