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Jimmy Edward, singer of soul-influenced Tejano pioneers Latin Breed, died Sunday morning at 68.
Born Santiago Eduardo Treviño, the San Antonio native first performed with groups including 1960s Chicano soul acts the Lovells and Danny and the Dreamers, the Express-News reports. However, it was when he assumed vocal duties for Latin Breed that his career took off.
“With the Latin Breed in the early 1970s, frontman Jimmy Edward helped usher in a new era of Chicano swagger and attitude with Tom Jones-style showmanship and a powerful, soulful voice,” said Hector Saldaña, curator of the Texas Music Collection at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.
Edward was drafted into the band after they discovered him singing at the storied Chamizal Club on Flores Street, according to the daily.
“The Latin Breed were incredibly popular and influential, [a] progressive force in the pre-synthesizer days, before the Tejano explosion of the ‘80s and ‘90s, drawing thousands to dances,” Saldaña said. “And Edward was a big part of the appeal. He ranks with the greats of that era, including Sunny Ozuna and Little Joe Hernandez.”
Details surrounding Edward’s death have not been released to the public.
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