Description
Esteban "Steve" Jordan is often referred to as "the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion" for his use of multiple electronic effects, but his imagination comes out even more clearly in his choice of notes and his wild, weird arrangements and vocals. This set mixes his raw early recordings of the 1960s with a wonderful LP from the 1980s. The early tracks already show a unique mind at work, with spikily funky runs punctuating the largely traditional vocals of Jordan and his then-wife Virginia Martinez. The second half is odder, mixing traditional polkas with jazz-blues,
cumbia, a Buck Owens cover, and the "Corrido de Jhonny el Pachuco," a hip, Chicano slang rewrite of a classic badman ballad. Both show a man who, without ever achieving stardom, remains probably the most innovative musician on the contemporary conjunto scene.
--Elijah Wald