Hispanic Heritage

Tony de la Rosa

aka El Conde (The Count)
Conjunto musician
Born 1931, in Sarita, TX, USA

Tony de la Rosa began playing the accordion in a country band in south Texas before he was 14, but he soon saw that conjunto, that danceable mix of Spanish, Mexican, German, and American country music that pervades the border region, was his calling. In the 1950s, de la Rosa revolutionized conjunto and shaped much of its post-World War II sound by adding drums and electrifying the bajo sexto (12-string bass guitar) in his group. This sparked a new dance, the tachuachito, and led to conjunto bands playing larger rooms with a now-amplified sound. De la Rosa semi-retired some years ago, but he still tours the dancehalls and festivals of south Texas when his health permits — with some extra energy no doubt supplied by a 1998 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, recognizing his lifetime contribution.

Three discs of Tony de la Rosa's music are readily available: Atotoniclo (Arhoolie, 1964/1995, prod. Chris Strachwitz), Así Se Baila en Tejas (Rounder, 1991, prod. Carl Finch), and Es Mi Derecho (Rounder, 1995, prod. Carl Finch). Each of them contains recordings of the lively dance-directed music de la Rosa enjoys and in which he became a pioneer. During his heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, more than 75 discs bearing de la Rosa's name were issued on regional labels, and at this writing there is talk of reissuing some of these. Tony de la Rosa's work is also represented in a number of collections, including Arhoolie's Tejano Roots series and Rounder's Conjunto! Texas-Mexico Border Music.

Source: MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press, 2000.