"La Santana"

Harpist Santana Perez-Avila would often perform at Breckenridge Park, under the pavilion at the Japanese Tea Garden. He would also perform around town as "La Santana".  He was my great-grandfather's brother. 

There is a recording of him performing with his a son, Juan, who played the violin for the San Antonio Symphony. I would love it if this recording had been preserved then digitized so  I could hear it. According to the book, Tell Me a Story, Sing Me a Song: A Texas Chronicle by William Owens, the harp was over 300 years old and made in Mexico. The song that was recorded by Owens was called Sobre Las Ollas/Orillas Del Agua, known to East Texas fiddlers as Over the Waves. It was of interest to Owens because it showed how Anglo fiddlers had borrowed from Spanish sheet music. They also played Jesusita en Chihuahua.

My grandfather had his cheekbones, eyes and his hands and I also have those hands. My grandfather would visit his Tio Santana when in San Antonio. Santana died of a heart attack at the age of 79, while at his home on 733 East Huisache Avenue, in San Antonio, on November 6, 1958.