I've mentioned Esteban Jordan on here previously. The Many Sounds of Steve Jordan is a mighty fine trip through his de/reconstructed conjunto kaleidoscope. The disc begins with nine tracks recorded in Hollywood in 1963 and one from 1970. These tracks are more traditional than his later work, but even as a young man, his punch and precision were fully developed. And he gets in some pretty tricky licks indeed. The remainder of the disc is his album, El Corrido De Jhonny El Pachuco, originally an independent release titled Las Coronelas on the RyN label, but picked up by Arhoolie in 1987. Their dating suddenly gets hazy here, but they imply it was recorded sometime in the early 80s (and the bass drum sound seems to confirm that). Whenever, it's terrific stuff -- hot conjunto, chopped, channeled and fully customized in Jordan's unique style. Listening to Midnight Blues with the thought that he's playing it on a three-row diatonic box simply blows my mind. Eugene Chadbourne has written an enthusiastic review and a brief biography. Mr. Jordan's own website has recently come to life. There's even an e-mail discussion list.