Esteban Jordan

Esteban "Steve" Jordan (February 23, 1939 – August 13, 2010) was a jazz, rock, blues, conjunto and Tejano musician from the United States. He was also known as "El Parche", "The Jimi Hendrix of the accordion", and "the accordion wizard". An accomplished musician, he played 35 different instruments.

Life Born in Elsa, Texas 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 conjunto roots, he never limited himself musically. More than any other accordionist, Jordan pushed the diatonic accordion to its limits, both musically and physically, playing traditional conjunto, rock, jazz, salsa, zydeco and more.

Jordan kept abreast of technological developments, using devices such as phase shifters, fuzzboxes, Echoplexes, for which he named a song, "La Polka Plex", and synthesizers, 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 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 a number of times.

New wave polka bands such as Brave Combo have cited Jordan's influence. In 1987 he was nominated for a Grammy, but lost out to his old friend Flaco Jiménez. His bid for mainstream presence continued in 1986 when he was asked to do the soundtrack for the Cheech Marin 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.

Discography Album Label Notes Year Las Coronelas RyN Discart 1971 La Camelia Freddie Records LP 1038 1975 Steve Jordan Freddie Records FR-1058 1976 That's My Boy! Omega Records 1977 Que Te Parece Freddie Records LP-1063 1977 Esteban Jordan Y Pura Jalea - Canto Al Pueblo El Parche Records 1978 Soy De Tejas Hacienda Records LP-7905 1979 Ahorita Hacienda Records LP 7901 1979 Con Una Sonrisa Hacienda Records LP-7917 1980 Mirada Que Facina Freddie Records LP-1291 1984 My Toot Toot RCA International IL6-7412 1985 Turn Me Loose RCA International IL6-7498 1986 El Huracan Rounder Records 1989 El Temblor de San Francisco Hacienda Records LP-7225 1990 Porque Sera Hacienda Records HAC-7516 2000