Pedro Ayala

{{short description|Mexican-American musician and songwriter (1911-1990)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist  |name = Pedro Ayala |alias =  |background = non_vocal_instrumentalist |instrument = accordion |image = |caption = Pedro Ayala El Monarca del Acordeón |image_size = 180 |birth_name = Pedro Ayala |birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|6|29}} |birth_place = General Terán, Nuevo León, Mexico |death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|12|1|1911|5|6}} |death_place = South Texas |genre = Conjunto |years_active = 1935–1989 |label = Arhoolie Records, Bego Records, DiscOlando Records, Eco Records, El Pato Records, Falcon Records, Folklyric Records, Ideal Record, Oro Records, RyN Records |website = }}

'''Pedro Ayala''' (June 29, 1911<ref name="nea">{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/pedro-ayala|title=Pedro Ayala: Mexican-American Accordionist |author= |date=n.d. |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 5, 2020}}</ref> – December 1, 1990<ref>{{cite web|url=http://governor.state.tx.us/music/tour/pioneers/ |title=Texas Music Pioneers (A-M) / Texas Music History Tour |website=governor.state.tx.us |publisher=Texas Music Office|date=2013 |access-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204031805/http://governor.state.tx.us/music/tour/pioneers/|archive-date=2013-12-04}}</ref>), called "El Monarca del Acordeón", was a Mexican accordionist and songwriter from General Terán, Nuevo León, Mexico.<ref name="nea" /> Pedro Ayala was a pioneer of conjunto music<ref name="Govenar">{{cite book| editor-last=Govenar |editor-first=Alan |year=2001 |chapter=Pedro Ayala: Mexican American Conjunto Accordionist |title=Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary |volume=1 (A-J)|location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-Clio |pages=41–43|isbn=1576072401|oclc=47644303}}</ref> with his distinctive accordion playing, receiving a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts<ref name="nea" /> for his contribution to conjunto and folk music.

==Early life== Ayala, the son of musician Emilio Ayala,<ref name="nea" /> began playing the accordion when he was 5 years old.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} His family migrated to the United States when Pedro was about eight years old, settling in the town of Donna, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley and working as farm laborers. At age ten, he began to accompany his father on gigs for local dances, playing the tambora (drum).<ref name="Govenar"/> By age fourteen, Pedro had learned the two-row button accordion, guitar and was playing with one of his favorite accordionists, Chon Alaniz.<ref name="nea" />

==Career== Ayala began his professional career in 1935, and decided to concentrate on the accordion as his primary instrument. He played music while continuing to work on farms. In the 1940s and 1950s, Ayala was a well-respected performer among working-class Mexican Americans living in Texas, earning the title "El Monarca del Acordeon" (Monarch of the Accordion). In 1947, he recorded with a new record label named Mira in McAllen, Texas. Mira later became Falcon Records, a very successful Chicano recording company.<ref name="Govenar"/> Over the course of his career, Ayala made 10 albums and numerous 78- and 45-rpm recordings that included polkas, chotes, valses, and redovas.<ref name="nea" />

Throughout his career, Ayala remained true to the stylistic core of conjunto music, but also added innovations such as incorporating the toloche (stand-up bass) to the ensemble. He was also regarded as a songwriter with a distinctive style of composition.<ref name="Govenar"/>

In 1957 his sons Ramon Ayala, and Pedro Ayala Jr. (Quito) joined his group Pedro Ayala y su Conjunto.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} By 1963 Pedro Ayala's youngest son Emilio joined the group renaming the group to Pedro Ayala El Monarca del Acordeón y Los Hermanos Ayala touring the entire United States for the next several years.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

==Personal life== Pedro Ayala married Esperanza Benitez in 1935.<ref name="nea" /> They had a total of nine children three of which also played instruments. Hector Ayala, Elia Ayala, Pedro Ayala Jr., Anita Ayala, Ramon Ayala, Pedro Ayala Jr. (Quito), Olga Ayala, Magdalena Ayala, and Emilio Ayala.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

==Awards and honors== *Ayala was a recipient of a 1988 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1988|title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1988 |author= |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730005654/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1988 |archive-date=July 30, 2020 | url-status=dead}}</ref> *He was given a Texas flag that flew over the state capitol in Austin, Texas by Governor Ann Richards.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} *Pedro Ayala y Los Hermanos Ayala were invited to perform at the White House in Washington, D.C. by the Smithsonian Institution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arhoolie.com/news/2001june.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020620134716/http://www.arhoolie.com/news/2001june.html|archive-date=June 20, 2002|title=Arhoolie Records}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.themonitor.com/news/ayala-3489-ramon-music.html|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120914082830/http://www.themonitor.com/news/ayala-3489-ramon-music.html|url-status=dead|title=Local musician dies, leaves legacy | ayala, ramon, music - News |website=TheMonitor.com|archivedate=September 14, 2012}}</ref> The entire event was documented on video. *Ayala was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame in 2004.<ref name="Shorkey">{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fay10 |title=Ayala, Pedro |last=Shorkey |first=Clayton T. |date=October 23, 2015 |website=Tshaonline.org |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Peña |first=Manuel H |year=1985 |title=The Texas-Mexican Conjunto: History of a Working-Class Music|location=Austin, TX |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=9780292780682 |oclc=11550341 }}

==External links== * {{AllMusic|artist/pedro-ayala-mn0000041004}} * {{Discogs artist}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20011116020130/http://www.pbs.org/accordiondreams/pioneers/index_alt.html PBS Accordion Dreams "Pedro Ayala"] * [http://www.answers.com/topic/pedro-ayala Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions] * [http://www.tejanorootshalloffame.org/visitor.html Tejano ROOTS Hall of Fame] * [http://www.pagepoint2.com/artists/show/1054645 Pedro Ayala recordings courtesy of The Arhoolie Foundation] * [http://www.arhoolie.com/news/2001june.html Arhoolie Records, News Archive, 2001] * [https://archive.today/20120914082830/http://www.themonitor.com/news/ayala-3489-ramon-music.html The Monitor newspaper article]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Pedro}} Category:1911 births Category:1990 deaths Category:Hispanic and Latino American musicians Category:Mexican accordionists Category:American accordionists Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Mexican emigrants to the United States Category:Tejano musicians Category:People from Donna, Texas Category:American musicians of Mexican descent Category:20th-century accordionists Category:Arhoolie Records artists Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American songwriters