{"id":791,"date":"2023-02-26T22:40:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T03:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/?p=791"},"modified":"2023-03-19T23:27:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T04:27:42","slug":"los-alegres-de-teran-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/2023\/02\/26\/los-alegres-de-teran-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n: The Pillars of Norte\u00f1o"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n- Eugenio Abrego and Tom\u00e1s Ortiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Formed in the mid-1940s by Mexican musicians Eugenio Abrego and Tom\u00e1s Ortiz, Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n was a m\u00fasica norte\u00f1a duet whose songs helped to popularize the sound of traditional norte\u00f1o music. The duo is originally from Mexico, where they met and began making music together, but came to Texas where they continued to find great success as professional musicians and recording artists. Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n’s music was not only essential to the development of the Norte\u00f1a genre (also known as m\u00fasica norte\u00f1a), but is is a great example of several different cultures interacting with one another through music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biography and Music Career<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before becoming the stars of Norte\u00f1o music that they are remembered as today, Abrego and Ortiz were strangers living their separate lives in close proximity to one another. The pair met at a club in General Ter\u00e1n, a small town in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo Le\u00f3n. Shortly after meeting in the early to mid-1940s, they formed their band Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n. Their band name roughly translates to “The Merry Ones of Ter\u00e1n”, after the town where they met and the area where both had spent their lives thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n

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location of General Ter\u00e1n, as well as proximity between McAllen and Reynosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The former part of their band name could be in reference to the upbeat, lively musical style that the two emulated known today as musica norte\u00f1a, or Norte\u00f1o music. By combining the Mexican tradition of rural dueto with the sound of the button accordion and the bajo sexto, Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n became the forefront of the emerging norte\u00f1o music scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After their formation in General Ter\u00e1n, the pair performed on the streets, at parties, and in cantinas where they began to develop and establish themselves in the local music scene. As they rose in popularity, Abrego and Ortiz branched out to Monterrey, N.L. where they made their first radio broadcast with XET. Their fame slowly continued to grow and they traveled to the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, to further their music career. The southern Texan city of McAllen was just a few miles over the Rio Grande from Reynosa, and it had a prominent music industry. The two eventually settled in McAllen, and were even inducted into the Tejano Conjunto Hall of Fame (located in Texas) in 1983. Their proximity to McAllen, combined with their stylistic development and growth led to their success as musicians. Thanks to modern recording technology, Los Alegres became more widely popular, and were eventually recognizable among Spanish-speaking communities throughout the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n

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location of McAllen, and geographical overview of Mexico and Texas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 1948, the same year that Los Alegres really began to come together, a man named Arnaldo Ramirez started Falcon Records, a record label based in McAllen. This record label was instrumental in not only the popularity and success of Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n, but in the establishment of Tejano as a widespread musical style. Featuring primarily rural norte\u00f1o music that had been left behind by major labels, Falcon Records was one of the safe havens within the music industry where the tradition of norte\u00f1o music could live on, and records like them helped to keep this music alive throughout the 50s, and in doing so Norte\u00f1o was able to influence the development of Tejano music- a genre that blends both Mexican and Texan culture.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Falcon Records Logo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n were at the forefront of the revival of rural Norte\u00f1o music (and of folk & rural music in general), carrying the sound of Northern Mexico further than it had ever been before. It has been estimated that Abrego and Ortiz released well over 100 records throughout their career together,  making their legacy as vast and expansive as it is culturally significant.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Vocals and Instrumentals- The Sound of Los Alegres<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite being a band of only two people, Los Alegres de Ter\u00e1n incorporates a variety of sounds and styles into their music. Between both of their voices and instruments, paired with influences from both Mexico and Europe, Los Alegres both emulated and transformed the sound of Norte\u00f1o music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the frontman of the band, Eugenio Abrego was both the accordion and lead vocalist for Los Alegres. The specific kind of accordion he played, known as a button accordion, is an essential part of Norte\u00f1o music. The button accordion migrated to Texas along with Czech people in the 1840s, who sought refuge from the economic depression, poverty, and unemployment rates they dealt with in their home countries. As with any group migrating from one place to another, Czech Texans brought their culture with them, including their unique musical style and instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Button Accordion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Accompanying Abrego’s flourishing melodies was Tomas Ortiz on the bajo sexto, a twelve-string Mexican instrument. Functioning similar to a base, the bajo sexto is usually what keeps the rhythm in Los Alegres’s songs as the accordion melody floats over it. The bajo sexto is a part of the guitar family, and although its specific origins are unknown, it was likely a product of Spanish influence in Mexico. Looking to the instruments of their Spanish ancestors, Mexicans created a host of double-stringed instruments, with the bajo sexto being one of them. Six pairs of double strings are stretched over a robust wooden body to create the bajo sexto, which soon became a staple of a variety of Mexican musical traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Bajo Sexto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although Ortiz is also a vocalist in Los Alegres, it took him a bit longer to join Abrego in the duet. At the beginning of their musical collaboration, Ortiz didn’t consider himself a vocalist. He would solely play the bajo sexto, leaving Abrego as the main vocalist in the early years of Los Alegres. The band tried out many different vocalists to sing in a duet with Abrego, but none of them felt right. Around their move to Reynosa in the late 40s-early 50s, the iconic dueto of Los Alegres had formed, with Ortiz finally joining Abrego in close harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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