HOPE FOR TEJANO MUSIC
RESOUNDS IN SELENA'S LEGACY


EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) - Some say that when Selena died, Tejano, the
genre of Texas border music she popularized, lost its leader and
way.

Selena and her band had taken the Tejano sound beyond folksy roots
as a Mexicanized polka and planted it firmly in the mix of Caribbean
and Latin American pop. With her trademark versatility and her
songwriter brother, a campesino sound went urban.

And while Tejano had been very male and macho, Selena became its
glittering, wholesome diva.

Now, a decade since her murder on March 31, 1995, aficionados say
Tejano's and Selena's influence could re-surge in a younger
generation.

"She was sort of everyone's daughter in terms of the Tejano family,"
said Roy Flores, a longtime Tejano industry leader. "I guess in
terms of a legacy, she certainly put Tejano on the national map."


Flores was setting up the 25th annual awards ceremony last weekend
at a 5,000-seat venue in the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Complex. In
Selena's day, the Tejano Music Awards occurred at San Antonio's
65,000-seat Alamodome.

To appreciate the Selena legend is to understand the cultures along
the Texas-Mexico border.

European farmers brought the accordion in the early 20th century,
when railroads opened deep South Texas and cheap land beckoned.
While few stayed past a few blistering summers or the first
hurricane, their polkas remained.

Coupled with a bajo sexto, or a twelve-string guitar, the conjunto
sound developed - similar to the "norteno" on the Mexican side of
the border (where accordions were brought with Europeans working in
Monterrey breweries). In the 1960s, the keyboard was added, and
Tejano was born.

It was regional music, part of a familial, though isolated culture.
Deep South Texas was more than 80 percent poor and Spanish-speaking,
so there was a language and culture barrier with the whites who ran
the schools and governments.

Also, the Spanish was so peppered with slang that Mexicans across
the Rio Grande didn't understand some of Tejano music either.

"The dialect was different. A lot of the Mexican people that would
listen to it could not accept the language because it wasn't right,"
promoter Al Gonzalez said. "And then we were learning so much
English that we kind of lost who we were."

Selena "hit a market at the right time," when Mexican-American girls
were hungry for an identity, Gonzalez said.

"It was the young crowd, the 8- to 10-year-olds that were idolizing
her, and that's what really grabbed her in," he said. He likened it
to what he called "the McDonald's effect."

"The children will always pull you into the market," Gonzalez said.

And with her broken Spanish and big smile, Selena melted the Mexican
market.

She was 23 when she was shot to death by the president of her fan
club.

Selena's brother A.B. Quintanilla, now of the Grammy-winning Kumbia
Kings, created diverse material for Selena: salsa, rock, rhythm and
blues.

The mix set the direction for modern Tejano, which is heavy on hip
hop, said Abraham Quintanilla, Selena's father, who's busy preparing
for a tenth anniversary commemorative benefit concert April 7 at
Reliant Stadium in Houston. Entertainers include Gloria Estefan and
Thalia.

"Tejano music is a product of Mexican-American kids that are born
and raised here in Texas that are exposed to all different genres -
they fuse all these different ideas in their heads, all these
different genres," he said.

In magazine interviews, Selena likened herself to a parrot who could
mimic different styles, and her hits often reflected that. "Techno
Cumbia," one of her first, had her rapping. "El chico del
apartamento 512" used a Colombian-style cumbia sound. "Fotos y
recuerdos" was a remake of the Pretenders' song "Back on the Chain
Gang."

Jimmy Gonzalez, winner of this year's Tejano album of the year,
remembered when Selena paid for his band's hotel rooms to help them
save money. He said he knew she would make it, but "never did figure
she would become a megastar."

"Her loss didn't go in vain," he said. "It did open the doors for a
lot of people, a lot of corporate people, and she was loved by the
whole world. The tragic way that she left us was what captured the
hearts of everybody."

At the Tejano awards, there was agreement that Tejano had grown
static, remaining popular with Mexican-Americans who had grown up
with it but not much beyond.

"Since the death of Selena that was like the beginning of the
decline of Tejano," drummer Adam Arevalos said. "Everything's so
different now. Everything seems to come from Mexico."

But there is hope younger artists will bring a turnaround.

"Music goes up and down," Flores said. "I think it's certainly not
at the same point it was when Selena and other artists were making a
national statement, but that's part of the rise and fall in cycles
of music.

"I don't think they'll ever be another Selena. Will there be another
artist that comes up and has a national presence? I think so," he
said.