Coraz贸n Abierto: Mexican American Voices in Texas Music provides a wide view of the myriad contributions that Mexican-American artists have made to music in Texas and the United States. Based on interviews with longtime stalwarts of Mexican-American music鈥擣laco Jim茅nez, Tish Hinojosa, Ernie Durawa, Rosie Flores, and others鈥攁nd also conversations with newer voices such as Lesly Reynaga, Marisa Rose Mejia, Josh Baca, and many more, Kathleen Hudson allows the musicians to tell their own stories in a unique and personal way. As the artists reveal in their free-ranging discussions with Hudson, their influences go far beyond traditionally Mexican genres like conjunto, 苍辞谤迟别帽辞, and Tejano to extend into rock, jazz, country-western, zydeco, and many other styles.
Hudson鈥檚 survey also includes essays, poetry, and other creative works by Dagoberto Gilb, Sandra Cisneros, and others, but the core of the book consists of what she describes as 鈥渁 collection of voices from different locations in Texas. . . . Some represent voices from the edge, while others give us a view from the center.鈥� Weaving together a tapestry that combines 鈥渇amily, borders, creativity, music, food, and community,鈥� the book presents an image as varied and difficult to define as the musicians themselves. By sharing the artists鈥� accounts of their influences, experiences, family stories, and musical and cultural journeys, Coraz贸n Abierto reminds us that borders can be gateways and that differences enrich, rather than isolate.