Xelencia

The decade of the 1990s earned the label “explosion” or “gold rush” era for Tejano music, yet by its close some observers complained that the flood of major-label investment had effectively extinguished the genre’s vitality. Numerous groups that had ignited this fusion of Mexican and American styles disbanded before 2000, among them the popular Xelencia. Randy Caballero assembled the band and secured an immediate contract with Capitol. From childhood he had entertained relatives by singing and playing piano; his first significant professional engagement came with the Latin gospel ensemble Conjunto Bernal, whose tours carried him across North and South America. He next entered the ranks of the suspiciously named la Mafia, who either earned the Grammy they claimed in 1988 or made an offer the judging board could not refuse. Three years afterward he departed to launch Xelencia, which promptly cultivated an audience and received the Most Promising Band of the Year honor at the Tejano Music Awards. The group traveled through Europe in 1998. Its output of roughly ten albums across seven years also positioned Caballero to produce and record additional Capitol artists. In the late 1990s he exited Xelencia, established the private facility Studio Masters, and started the band Chilli Willi. Early Xelencia releases spotlighted Caballero alone, with the first three album covers displaying only his image; subsequent projects developed a broader collective identity and featured greater contributions from David DeAnda. An original member, DeAnda had begun as lead singer of the family group Los Chamacos de Raul DeAnda alongside his cousin Jamie DeAnda. He later joined Los Chavolos, whose lineup included accordion giant Albert Zamora, until the unit that would become Xelencia coalesced around 1988. DeAnda remained with Xelencia for several years after Caballero’s departure, prompting some Tejano listeners to fear he might never step forward as a soloist or leader. In 2000 he dispelled that notion by returning to his conjunto foundations with David DeAnda y la Ley, whose instrumentation centers on bajo sexto and accordion. The ensemble’s debut release, La Chancia, appeared on the Discos MM label.