SAN ANTONIO – From San Antonio’s early jazz icons to the stars who passed away in 2024, a new effort by the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) is exploring the annals of the state’s music history.
In January, the ITC launched “Texas Sounds,” a new monthly digital music series in an effort to better connect with the community and explore the tapestry of Texas’ cultural heritage, the university said in a UTSA Today story.
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The YouTube playlists celebrate “the musicians who have shaped the state’s cultural landscape,” the story said.
“Texas Sounds” is a collaboration between the ITC and Jason Longoria, a UTSA graduate and Texas music history expert.
“Jason brings critical insight to Texas’s unique music history and culture,” said Bianca Alvarez, the ITC’s head curator.
Longoria has served on the boards of the Conjunto Heritage Taller and the South Texas Museum of Popular Culture.
“I am excited to work with the ITC to highlight the voices and stories that make our city’s music scene so unique,” Longoria said.
In January, the series highlighted Texas artists who passed away in 2024. From Kinky Friedman to Kris Kristofferson, the 11-song playlist features the likes of country and conjunto legends.
For Black History Month in February, “Texas Sounds” looked local to explore the pioneers of jazz and swing music in San Antonio.
The first song in the 13-song playlist comes from Don Albert & His Orchestra.
Albert, a central figure in the early jazz and swing movement in San Antonio, owned the Keyhole Club, a jazz mecca in early San Antonio that hosted the likes of Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong.
>> READ: San Antonio’s forgotten jazz mecca: The lore of the Keyhole Club
The Keyhole Club first opened on San Antonio’s East Side on Nov. 3, 1944, at the corner of Iowa and Pine Street. After a stint away from San Antonio, Albert later reopened the club on the West Side in the 1600 block of West Poplar Street.
The ITC is moving its collections to a temporary home at Frost Tower after UTSA received the state’s OK to demolish its former home at Hemisfair.
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