''The Billboard Guide To Tejano and Regional Mexican Music'' is a music reference and

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

Tejano Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in the ...

and

Regional Mexican music Regional styles of Mexican music vary greatly from state to state. Norteño, banda, duranguense, Son mexicano and other Mexican country music genres are often known as regional Mexican music because each state produces different musical sounds ...

. Written by ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'' music editor Ramiro Burr, the music guide was published in 1999 by ''Billboard'' Books. It was published during the 1990s "

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

explosion", a period when Latin music entered the popular market and during the end of the

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

of Tejano music.

Content

The book's back cover touts that it contains the "never-before-told history of this innovative and influential musical genre". The book includes the musical biographies and discographies of 300 musicians in the

, norteño,

grupero Grupera (also known as Grupero or Onda Grupera) is a genre of Regional Mexican music. It reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s, especially in rural areas. The music has roots in the rock groups of the 1960s, but today generally consis ...

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

banda Banda may refer to: People *Banda (surname) *Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician *Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor *Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh warr ...

, and technobanda fields, as well as some artists from other genres outside regional Mexican such as

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing th ...

, romantic trio and

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin po ...

. The artists are listed alphabetically. The music guide also includes a

glossary A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Tradi ...

and Burr's "top 10" albums and singles of various regional Mexican music genres. The guide also includes an essay on the evolution of Tejano and regional Mexican music.

Reception

The music guide was published in 1999, a period when Latin music entered the popular market and during the end of the 1990s Tejano music renaissance era. In the 1990s, Tejano music became one of the fastest-growing musical genres in the United States and began to decline in popularity after the shooting death of American tejano singer

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

in March 1995. Music critics and musicians in the genre have since praised the book's release, calling it "overdue" and one of the best music guides for Latin music fans. Mario Tarradell of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', called the book "complete and comprehensive" and recommended it to music journalist. Joe Nick Patoski, editor of ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'', called it "an extensive examination". Director of Texas Music Office, Casey Monahan called the music guide "an important and timely contribution". Michael Greene, president of the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous f ...

believed the book "comes not a minute too soon" during a time "when the whole world seems to be discovering and rediscovering the exciting Latin music forms" and called the book "valuable and culturally important".

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Billboard Guide To Tejano and Regional Mexican Music Billboard (magazine) Encyclopedias of music Music guides 1999 non-fiction books Mexican music Tejano music

Content

Reception

See also

References

Sources