Esteban "Steve" Jordan (February 23, 1939 – August 13, 2010) was a jazz, rock, blues,

conjunto The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño' ...

and

Tejano music Tejano music (), also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican influences. Its evolution began in northern Mexico (a variation of regional Mexican music known as ). It reached a larger audience in the late 20th century ...

ian from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He was also known as "El Parche", "The

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

of the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

", and "the accordion wizard". An accomplished musician, he played 35 different instruments.

Life

Born in

Elsa, Texas Elsa is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,668 at the 2020 census. It is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas. Geography Elsa is located in eastern Hidalgo Coun ...

to migrant farm workers and partially blinded as an infant, Jordan was unable to work in the fields. Left at home, he found friendship and guidance among the elderly. At a very young age he was introduced to music, especially the accordion. At the time, the musician Valerio Longoria followed the community of migrant farm workers and played for them in the labor camps. These circumstances brought the two together and the young Esteban mastered the instrument quickly. While he remained close to his traditional

roots, he never limited himself musically. More than any other accordionist, Jordan pushed the

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair ...

accordion to its limits, both musically and physically, playing traditional conjunto,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, salsa,

zydeco Zydeco ( ; ) is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by French speaking, Afro-Americans of Creole heritage. It blends African and Caribbean rhythms, blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana ...

and more. Jordan kept abreast of technological developments, using devices such as

phase shifter A phase shift module is a microwave network module which provides a controllable phase shift of the RF signal. Phase shifters are used in phased arrays. Classification Active versus passive Active phase shifters provide gain, while passive ...

fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

es,

Echoplex The Echoplex is a tape delay effects unit, first made in 1959. Designed by engineer Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s; according to Michael Dregni, it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything e ...

es, for which he named a song, "La Polka Plex",La Polka Plex, Polkas Huapangos Y Redovas, Steve Jordan, 2006
Hacienda Records
/ref> and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s, and was one of the few conjunto musicians to weave styles such as fusion jazz and rock into his music. He had also recorded country, western and

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

numbers. Members of his family frequently backed him up, including his sons Esteban Jr., Esteban III, and Ricardo. Esteban III (guitar) and Ricardo (bass) accompanied Esteban on-stage and in studio recording. Esteban established his own record label " Jordan Records, Inc." on his birthday Feb. 23, 2010. He released one of his nine albums named Carta Espiritual (a spiritual letter), on which he had spent over 15 years recording new music, still yet to be released on his recording label. His sons Esteban Jr., Esteban III, and Ricardo continue his musical legacy. His sons go by "El Rio Jordan de Esteban Jordan" Rio Jordan, the band name given by their father. In 1988 while performing The Berlin Jazz Festival '88, Hohner invited Steve to the Hohner factory in Trossingen, Germany. The Hohner company and Steve collaborated in making a new accordion with Steve's specifications that included his own tuning, octaves, and tuning arrangement changes to the accidentals. It would enable Steve to do the music patterns he is famous for. In 2009, Hohner USA in recognition of Steve's contribution and accomplishments to the music world, Hohner launched the Steve Jordan "Rockordeon", a signature series accordion reissued in his honor. Jordan played with guitar legend

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

a number of times. New wave

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

bands such as

Brave Combo Brave Combo is a polka rock band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/Keyboard instrument, keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their m ...

have cited Jordan's influence. In 1987 he was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, but lost out to his old friend

Flaco Jiménez Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. He is known for playing Norteño, Tex Mex and Tejano music. Jiménez has been a solo performer and session musician, as ...

. His bid for mainstream presence continued in 1986 when he was asked to do the soundtrack for the

Cheech Marin Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American comedian and actor. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dom ...

film '' Born in East L.A.'' He appeared in the film '' Texas Conjunto: Música de la gente'', a documentary about Texas conjunto music, and in '' True Stories'', an American musical film directed by and starring musician

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

. He did the music and appeared as an accordion street player in the film '' Born in East L.A.'' starring Cheech Marin. Esteban was inducted to the South Texas Conjunto Music Hall Of Fame on May 27, 2001. Also the National Hispanic Music Hall Of Fame in 2003. Esteban had cancer for four years and died of complications from

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

on August 13, 2010. He was 71.Mysanantonio.com
/ref>

Discography

References

External links

* *Radio Documentary NPR's Latino USA b
"Alex Avila"
(Also found on prx.org) *Corcoran, Michael (2005)

''Austin American-Statesman'', January 17, 2005. * Wald, Elijah. "The Many Sounds of Steve Jordan" (review). *Shelley, Jeff. "The Many Sounds of Steve Jordan" (review). {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Esteban American accordionists American musicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American musicians Norteño musicians Musicians from Texas 1939 births 2010 deaths Deaths from cancer in Texas Deaths from liver cancer in the United States Tejano musicians Tejano accordionists