Juan & Armando Tejeda are primos hermanos who have been performing their particular duet style of traditional and progressive Tejano Conjunto music with button accordion and bajo sexto for over 30 years. Raíz XicanX, the first recording that they produce together, is a concept CD of 17 love songs to and from la Raza. It includes a diverse repertoire of music, representing the Native American/ XicanX experience in the U.S., that ranges from original indigenous cantos with drum and flute, two original corridos written by Juan’s father, Francisco Mariano Tejeda about his military service in the U.S. Army and World War II, traditional Conjunto instrumentals, full Conjunto covers of popular polcas rancheras, blues, country, rock and jazz, a cumbia Colombiana, an 8 minute version of “La Llorona,” and an Indigenous/Conjunto fusion waltz titled “A Father’s Canto/Zitlalli Aztlan Libre” that Juan wrote for his daughter.
While Juan and Armando recorded all of the button accordion and bajo sexto tracks, as well as all of the vocals and most of the bass parts and some drums and flute, there were various guest musicians that provided their musical talent for this Raíz XicanX CD: Armando Aussenac on drums; Henry Brun on bongos, congas and hand percussion in “Sentencia de Amor,” “El Canoero” and “La Llorona”; George Prado on acoustic bass in “I Couldn’t Sleep Last Night”; Arturo “Sauce” González (keyboards), Al Gómez (trumpet and horn arrangement), Jay Fort (saxophone), Pete Ojeda (bass) and Urban Urbano (drums) on “Forgive Me for Fallin’”; and Isaac Álvarez Cárdenas on native drum in “A Father’s Canto/Maya Quetzalli.”
Raíz XicanX by Juan & Armando Tejeda will be available for purchase at Resistencia Bookstore. After November 10, 2018, the CD will also be available at juantejeda.net as well as iTunes and various streaming services.
Red Salmon Arts (casa de Resistencia Books) is a Native American/Chican@/x/Latin@/x-based cultural arts organization with a history of working within indigenous communities of Austin since 1983.
Resistencia Bookstore, Casa de Red Salmon Arts, is a neighborhood center for aspiring writers, providing quality literature to Austin communities since 1983. Specializing in indigenous, Native American, Chican@/x-Mexican@/x, Latin@, African American, queer, feminist, and children’s bilingual literature.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.