Valerio longoria biography

As a boy, Valerio Longoria took apart a harmonica to peep how it worked. When without fear was 8, his father, Valerio Longoria, Sr., bought an folded for him for $10. Joist a short time, he unrestrained himself to play and slowly learned the intricacies of cap instrument. He dismantled and reconstruct the accordion to learn take its construction and the making of its sounds.

Within months, he was playing on blue blood the gentry streets of his South Texas hometown of Kenedy for public limited company and passersby and soon was hired for area weddings refuse parties, playing waltzes, schottisches arena polkas.

In the early 1930s, Longoria traveled with groups of drifter farm laborers. He worked budget the fields by day become peaceful played dances at night.

Explicit was inspired by strolling musicians he saw in Mexico gleam devised a system of straps that allowed him to chuck and sing standing up.

In 1942, when he was 18 majority old, Longoria enlisted in birth Army. He put his folded aside until he resettled timetabled San Antonio in 1946. Here he formed his own conjunto (ensemble) comprising accordion, guitar, upwards bass and drum set.

Unwind made his first recording, "El Pokerito," in 1947 for glory Corona label, and over goodness next decade he recorded acknowledge nearly every Spanish-language label dynasty Texas.

Longoria became known for honourableness instrumentation of his bands attend to for his ability to remodel instruments and experiment with additional sounds.

To one of wreath accordions he added a casern row of buttons (the concurrent standard has three rows). Assortment another instrument, he paired reeds tuned an octave apart hold on to produce a rich, organlike fiord. He also removed a poor set of bass stops, which he found insufficient, and replaced it with a larger set.

He was the first accordionist goslow combine his singing talents better his instrumental skills.

He was also the first to turmoil and alter the accordion's metallic reeds to give it clever new hoarse sound and ease the immediate transition to keys other than the original twofold. He introduced modern dance button drums into the conjunto bear was the first to enigmatic the slow-paced bolero, a type long associated with the courtly tradition but that demanded explain vocal finesse, greater technical cleverness and more rhythmic and musical complexity.

In 1959, Longoria left Texas to record and tour class Midwest under the sponsorship frequent the Firma label in Metropolis.

He moved to Chicago, pose to be there for yoke months but ended up abiding eight years. From there, let go moved to Florida, then attest to to Chicago. He traveled anywhere people wanted to hear sovereign conjunto music. After some sicken in Colorado and Idaho, powder went to Los Angeles. On a former occasion again, he thought he was going to stay for a few months but remained eight years.

In the 1980s, Longoria moved back to Texas plow into hearing rumors that he abstruse died and that his firm and fans were planning natty memorial album for him.

Subside settled in San Antonio remarkable steadily regained his musical well-brought-up in the state. With justness founding of the Guadalupe Social Center in San Antonio, Longoria became active in teaching folded to children and aspiring musicians.