Top Music Events- Early April Tejano Music Awards
With six trophies each, Selena (female vocalist, showband, Tejano crossover, song, album and entertainer of the year) and Emilio (male vocalist, male entertainer, conjunto progressive album, video, Tejano country song, and vocal duo with his brother Raul) won all but four categories.Patoski, Joe Nick: Selena: Como la Flor (Little Brown)
Putting her in the larger context of Tejano culture--and of a Quintanilla family life less storybook than was claimed--Texas Monthly senior editor offers a balanced, well-researched look at Selena's rise, her murder, and its aftermath. (Full disclosure: Patoski acknowledges that he benefited from some of my own research.)Dallas Observer Music Awards
On April 14, 40 bands (all nominees) will be playing in 11 Deep Ellum Clubs, with a $5 wristband permitting blanket admission. Poll results will be announced in the April 18th issue of the alternative weekly, with Funland leading the pack with six nominations.Deep Ellum Takes Charge
The Dallas entertainment district now offers its own MasterCard, through MBNA America in Delaware.The Prodigal Daughter
Prized singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams has moved back to Austin from Nashville.Clarence Gatemouth Brown: Long Way Home (Gitanes)
The singer/guitarist/fiddler explores the common ground between country, blues, and cajun--a regional fusion all but gone in the postwar era. The Orange native clicks on all but a couple tracks.Sarah Brown: Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' (Blind Pig)
Those who know her only as the longtime bassist in the Antone's house band will be surprised that Brown's solo debut moves so far beyond blues. But it's a more textured and satisfying record for doing so.W. C. Clark: Texas Soul (Black Top)
One of the godfathers of Austin's blues scene, the singer-guitarist mixes up blues and soul with casual authority.Geto Boys: The Resurrection (Rap-A-Lot/Noo Trybe)
With Willie D rejoining Bushwick Bill and Scarface, it's the first album in five years for the best edition of the Houston rap group. The street politics are more moderate, the music more imaginative, but their overreliance on the f-word will alienate as many as ever.Blues, Barrelhouse and Boogie Woogie: The Best of Amos Milburn, 1946-1955 (Capitol)
One of the biggest stars in the formative days of rhythm and blues, the Houston singer and piano-pounder delighted the chicken shack and juke joint circuit with the earthy drinking and she-done-me-wrong songs gathered on this three-CD box.John's Previous Column
