Photo courtesy of Flaco Jiménez.

2012 NEA National Heritage Fellow Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez San Antonio, TX Tejano Accordion Player

"What B.B. King is to the blues, or George Jones is to traditional country, Grammy-winning accordionist Flaco Jimenez is to the world of Tex-Mex conjunto," says music critic Ramino Burr in The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Mexican Music. Born into a family of conjunto musicians, Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez has led the way in expanding conjunto music from his community in San Antonio, Texas, to new audiences both in the United States and worldwide.

Born in 1939, Jiménez is the son of conjunto pioneer Santiago Jiménez, Sr. By age seven he was already performing with his father, even earning a nickname that had in the past attached to his father, "Flaco," or "Skinny."

Conjunto dates back to the 19th century and is a uniquely Texas tradition. It has a distinctive style, featuring influences from the German, Polish, and Czech immigrants who settled in the predominantly Mexican region of the Texan Rio Grande valley and brought with them popular forms of dance music such as the polka, waltz, schottische, mazurka, and redowa. Tied to this style of music is the diatonic button accordion, which was adopted by tejanos, or Texans of Mexican descent.

Jiménez apprenticed on the accordion with various San Antonio musicians, including Toby Torres, Joey López, and Los Caminantes, and built his reputation by performing in San Antonio saloons and dance halls. In the 1960s, Jiménez began playing with Douglas Sahm, the founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet, and went on to New York to perform with Bob Dylan and Dr. John. He continued to introduce new audiences to conjunto music, performing with Peter Rowan and touring internationally with Ry Cooder and David Lindsey, receiving international acclaim for his contributions to Cooder's landmark album Chicken Skin Music.

He later joined Sahm again in the 1990s to form the group Texas Tornados with Freddy Fender and Augie Meyers, recording six albums and winning a Grammy. He also recorded with the "Mexican super group" Los Super Seven that included Fender, Joe Ely, Ruben Ramos, Rick Trevino, and Cesar Rosas and David Hildalgo of Los Lobos, netting another Grammy. In total, Jiménez has received five Grammy awards, including three awards for his solo work. In 1999, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Latin Magazine and has been inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in New York City.

Over the years, Jiménez has expanded conjunto music to include influences from country and western, rock, and jazz music. In an interview for American Roots on PBS, Flaco explained, "I started making conjunto more progressive because of the versatility that I believe in… I think it's good to change it a little."

 
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