Super Seven
This southwestern super session brings together Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Chicano country stars Freddy Fender and Rick Treviño, Texas rocker Joe Ely, norteño accordion wizard Flaco Jimenez, and Tejano bandleader Ruben Ramos to pay homage to the Texan-Mexican tradition. The music is acoustic and generally string-driven, with guitars and violins recalling early mariachi and dancing accordion lines. There are some great party tunes, but ballads are the rule, and Treviño and Fender both show superb grace in their vocals. Ely turns in a heartfelt version of Woody Guthrie's "Deportee," but almost all the songs are in Spanish (with translations in the booklet). Each features only one or two of the headlining singers and there is none of the crowded feel of some all-star efforts, just a relaxed and swinging exploration of the classic Tejano sound.--Elijah Wald