Accordion Dreams

D: Hector Galán. (Video, 56 min.)

This PBS-backed documentary, directed and produced by Frontline veteran Hector Galán, succeeds as both a Tejano cultural history and a heartfelt love ballad to the most maligned of instruments. Galán champions the button accordion as integral to the heritage and identity of Mexican-Americans, tracing its evolution from an entertainment vehicle for working-class families to a dance sensation that’s sweeping the nation, courtesy of young performers who integrate hip-hop and rock rhythms into a sort of conjunto pop fusion. So much for the myth that “only geeks play accordions”: Teenage schoolgirls in South Texas rend their hair as Jesse Turner, frontman for the group Estilo, cuts loose in a cloud of boogie fog. Elsewhere, Joel Guzman “spanks” his accordion on stage at Stubb’s, and rising superstar Victoria Galvan has a record and a radio tour before her quinceñera. Musicologically, it’s as solid as they come, if a bit heavy on the talking heads. Tish Hinojosa narrates. (Dobie, 3/17, 1:15pm)

This article appears in March 16 • 2001.

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