Esteban "Steve" Jordan

Before you is the first installment of the most anticipated recordings ever made in conjunto music. Esteban "Steve" Jordan, generally regarded as the world's greatest accordionist, began making these recordings in the early 1990s, after he gave up recording for other record labels. Since that time, on tour or in private conversation, Jordan has touted the "9 Albums" he recorded but never released. By 2009, most fans knew of these recordings, but few ever had a chance to hear them until now.

Esteban Jordan has gone more than 18 years without releasing an official recording. He has used those years to create, record, rework and remix these nine mythical albums. Having been privy to these recordings, I can attest that the songs are all Jordan--jazzed-up, fresh, innovative, and original. The music is also literally all Jordan, with Esteban playing all the instruments on the songs. Even Jimi Hendrix couldn't do that.

This first of nine albums, Carta Espiritual, is representative of the innovative style of rancheras that Jordan invented. Each of the ten songs has that unique Jordan flavor and instrumentation. Only two songs have been available to the public before this release: the title track "Carta Espiritual" and "Ahora, Ahora."

"Carta Espiritual" is a corrido like epic, a potent lament, a letter to Dios that chronicles Jordan's view of current and past events. Here Jordan uses wars—the first and second Gulf War, the War on Drugs, and the War on Poverty—to philosophize about our current human condition. With its wide breadth of ideas, the song demonstrates what his fans have always known: that he is a deep thinker capable of writing succinct and elegant verses in the Chicano vernacular.

"Ahora, Ahora" carries Esteban Jordan's unique arrangements that made songs like "El Gancho" exciting and ground-breaking. The song has been a staple of his live shows for several years now. Like "El Gancho," "Ahora, Ahora" finds Jordan in a reflective mood, employing the unique Jordan song writing technique -- el triple sentido. Like "El Gancho," the song's groove will send everyone to the dance floor, but you have to speak Jordan's language to catch the song's biting word play.

Half of the songs on this album are instrumentals, each highlighting Jordan's unreproducible accordion playing. "Adolfo's Polka" is a Chon Caballero polka, while "La Culebra" is a Jordanized version of the original mariachi standard. In this version, Jordan adds the jazz influences found in many of his other polkas.

The two instrumentals that merit particular attention are the schottisches, "La Pepita y El Chupon" and "Figaro, Figaro." Long-time Jordan fans may remember these songs from earlier recordings when Jordan originally recorded them as polkas. As schottisches, they sound fresh and represent Jordan's singular genius in reworking older material to create completely new material.

"La Mula" has also been previously released by Jordan. In this version, Jordan employs four different vocals to sing this innuendo-rich ranchera. Not surprisingly, that's Jordan singing all four vocal parts.

The highlight of this album may very well be "Alta Sociedad." Penned by Jordan, "Alta Sociedad" ranks among his greatest compositions. The song doesn't break any new ground for Jordan; it's simply a beautifully done ranchera. But Jordan isn't content to leave well enough alone. Listen to the soul stirrings that haunt the end of the chorus in this song. Though they come when you least expect them, they come to work, and they add that Jordan flavor that makes this song an amazing work of art.

For long time fans of Jordan's jazzed-up compositions, listening to this first album is an ecstatic revelation. This album is Jordan's palabra de honor, letting his fans know that he wasn't exaggerating about the nine albums of unreleased gold he was carting around for two decades. Amazingly, Jordan still has 80 more unreleased gems on the mixing board. If the songs on Carta Espiritual are any indication, those vaulted albums will be as good if not better than this one, and will definitely be worth the wait.

by Pedro Villarreal