Long before Flaco Jiménez or Los Tigres del Norte, there were Los Relámpagos del Norte and the unforgettable Conjunto Bernal, master ensembles that are credited with the creation of conjunto.
Enter 1999, the dawn of a new millennium, and meet the members of La Costumbre. They are José Gerardo Zamora Jr. and Manuel "Edgar" Lujan, accomplished musicians and emergent songwriters. Behind them are Karl Leon Moreno on drums, Efrain "Pin" Morales Jr. on electric bass, and Manuel D. Jasso III on tumbas (percussion, Rio Grande Valley style). Young men reared in the brush country of Zapata, Texas, they deliver on the promise of their undeniable roots.
La Costumbre offers a distinctly modern take on the regional Norteño sound. The members, all schooled in the hotbed of accordion and bajo sexto-fueled songwriting, deftly blend Tex-Mex conjunto with Mexico's grupero and norteño legacies.
"We met in ninth-grade Spanish class," says Lujan of his friend and musical partner. "I was raised in Guerrero, Mexico, and when I was 15, I moved here. I didn't have many friends, but I met José, and he told me he was looking to start a band."
"I wanted an accordion for a long time before my parents realized just how serious I was," notes Zamora, whose golden-throated tenor gives La Costumbre its identity and vitality all at once. "I grew up with this music," he adds.
"I started playing guitar when I was 10," says Lujan. "I've played tololoche [stand-up bass], sax, and keyboard." He is also, according to his friend Zamora, the finest violin player in the high school mariachi.
Having graduated from Zapata High School this past May, Efrain and Manuel are now first-year college students. Karl, the youngest member of the band at 16, has won numerous awards in drumming competitions as a member of the Zapata High School band.
Led by 18-year-old Zamora on accordion and string prodigy Lujan on bajo sexto (both of whom share duties on lead and back-up vocals), La Costumbre comes together with a tight, well-honed collection of original music on their debut album, LA COSTUMBRE. With Zamora and Lujan's fiery two-part harmonies, skilled musicianship, and contagious, danceable melodies, the band's self-titled album deals out a burning full house of hits.
Produced by the highly sought Carlos Cabral "Junior," "La Costumbre" includes "Retírate," the first single and video, and one of the group's many original compositions on the album. A remake of the Cornelio Reyna bolero anthem "Un Engaño Más" is a moving tribute to the late master who pioneered the music as half of Los Relámpagos alongside Ramon Ayala. "La Costumbre" is also fortified with contributions from Josue E. Conteras, the Zapata composer who has authored several blockbuster songs for the newest norteño giants.
The haunting accordion ballad "Como Nadie" by Zamora and Lujan's own "Desesperado" highlight the creativity of the band's leaders, who perform equally well behind the microphone and the pen and who are surprisingly mature for newcomers. With a natural command of the musical language and a voice that sings in a modern tongue, La Costumbre speaks to generations of listeners. Costumbre means tradition, and for these five teenagers from the Texas-Mexico border, La Costumbre means that and much more.
