Los Aguilares: A bittersweet night of puro conjunto
Posted: January 27, 2012 Filed under: accordion, Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, conjunto, los aguilares, san antonio, tejano 1 Comment »It has been two years since the death of accordionist and co-founder Emilio Aguilar from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 70.
“It’s important to continue my dad’s legacy,” said Miguel Aguilar, who plays keyboards. “And of course, my uncle (Genaro) still has his voice. He’s still active, and he wants to continue so we’re going to respect that … continuing is what my dad would really, really have wanted us to do.”
Emilio Aguilar was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when he was 55. But even at the end of his life, when he couldn’t recognize his button accordion “and didn’t know what to do with it,” he could still keep time.
“He never lost his beat. My mom would tune in the Radio Jalapeño station (KEDA-AM), and he would always stomp his foot. He would just smile,” Miguel recalled. “That’s a good memory.”
Los Aguilares’ life story is right out of a movie.
A bittersweet night of puro conjunto – San Antonio Express-News.
Roberto Pulido true to his roots
Posted: January 27, 2012 Filed under: accordion | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, chicano, conjunto, pulido, tejano, tex-mex, valley Leave a comment »Legendary singer-songwriter Roberto Pulido describes his famous norteño, Tejano and rock ‘n’ roll sound as “like a guacamole.”
“It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” said Pulido from his Edinburg office.
The fruits ‘n’ vegetables metaphor is fitting.
As a child of migrant farm workers, he grew up listening to conjunto and norteño as well as the music of Little Joe & the Latinaires and Sunny & the Sunliners while working in the fields.
Read more in the Express New: http://goo.gl/B32xI
Chinese Food
Posted: January 26, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 Comment »Today I went to a Chinese restaurant to eat lunch. As I was paying for my meal I noticed a picture of all these chinitos gathered around for their group photo. The group was the Chinese American Cuisine Association or CACA for short. I kind of giggled but I didn’t have the heart to tell the lady at the register what was so funny. She was probably a very proud member of CACA, maybe even the founder! Los pobres don’t realize what that means in spanish – which is why it was pretty hilarious. So those of you in Chicago please do not start the Chicago Area Conjunto Association. Imagine in Honduras a group called Sindicato Hondureño de Ingenieros Telefonicos (SHIT). Sure we can laugh, but they would be clueless as to why all these americanos are always so happy around them. Oh and another thing, I am glad we say puro conjunto, conjunto puro; and not something else like Pura Onda, Onda Pura – that stinks!
Busy 2012 for TexManiacs
Posted: December 10, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, conjunto, Conjunto music, farias, flaco jimenez, max baca, san antonio, squeezebox, tejano, tex-mex, texmaniacs Leave a comment »TOP 10 Reasons the Grammys Dropped Best Tejano Album Category
Posted: December 5, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: grammy, tejano, tex-mex, texas, United States Leave a comment »10. They want to concentrate on the profane obscene no talented members of society.
9. Emilio Estefan couldn’t find a way to rig it.
8. The second-rate Latin Grammys killed the real Grammys for U.S. Latinos.
7. If Tejano music was sung in English, it could win in most Country music categories.
6. There were only ten submissions last year, you need 25.
5. Little Joe Hernandez ran out of thank you speeches.
4. It will be replaced by the Best Regional Mexican or Tejano Album category, so non-Americans will win every year from now on.
3. Texas is a beautiful place; Tejanos are a beautiful race…
2. The Grammy committee is made up of Las Vegas/New Jersey boxing judges.
1. La Onda Chicana is not about Grammys, its about ganas.
Band another Farias family affair
Posted: December 2, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, conjunto, Conjunto music, polka, squeezebox, tejano, tex-mex, texas, valerio longoria Leave a comment »
CONJUNTO TRADITIONS: ‘IT’S LIFE’
Posted: November 22, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto is Life | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, Conjunto is Life, Conjunto music, polka, squeezebox, tejano, tejano conjunto festival, valley Leave a comment »La Joya ISD festival brings conjunto youth, legends together
Guarded by posters of rock and pop legends like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Michael Jackson, a group of young men from Palmview High School worked on perfecting the sounds of their region that holds strong routes throughout South Texas and Mexico since the 19th century.
“It has a good beat to dance to, to listen to,” said 17-year-old Omar Garza, an accordion player with La Tradicion, PHS’s conjunto group.
Read more here: Progress Times.
Reuben Garza’s Journey with Tejano Music
Posted: November 1, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: bajo sexto, conjunto, dos gilbertos, hall of fame, mexican american, narciso martinez, puro conjunto, ruben garza, ruben vela, tejano, tex-mex, texas, valley Leave a comment »“Reuben Garza is no stranger to awards ceremonies, he has been inducted to the Hall of Fame of Conjunto Music in Alice, Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Texas, and he was also a Latin Grammy nominee for best Bajo Sexto player. The Bajo Sexto is a twelve string bass
guitar.
I sat with him on Wednesday August 18, 2011 at his Barber shop located on 319 North First Street in Harlingen, Texas, where Reuben, looking like a true dandy Conjunto player, agreed to this interview.”
Click here to read interview -Reuben Garza’s Journey with Tejano Music | La Vida Valle.
The International Accordion Festival’s battle against shrinking funds and ignorant lawmakers
Posted: October 6, 2011 Filed under: accordion | Tags: accordion, art, conjunto, nea, squeezebox, tejano, tejano conjunto festival, texas Leave a comment »Here is an interesting article about the international accordion festival coming to San Antonio - San Antonio Current.
Local legend fulfilled dream
Posted: October 1, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, chicano, conjunto, conjunto hall of fame, Conjunto is Life, Conjunto music, flaco jimenez, norteno, san antonio, santiago jimenez, tejano, tex-mex Leave a comment »Conjunto’s Roel Flores keeps music alive with paintbrush
Posted: September 17, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, chicano art, conjunto, farmworkers, migrant, squeezebox, tejano, tex-mex Leave a comment »The 69-year-old musician-turned-artist, said he hopes his art can bring his memories and experiences as a migrant worker to life. He aims to preserve the history of migrant workers and connect with those that grew up with the same values and love for conjunto that he did.
“I’m trying to keep conjunto alive, not by sound, but by sight,” Flores said.
Read more here: The Monitor
Downtown Browntown News: CONJUNTO MUSIC FINDS NEW HOME!
Posted: September 17, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, conjunto, Conjunto music, freddy gomez, squeezebox, tejano, valley Leave a comment »The Freddy Gomez Conjunto Festival, officially baptized the first annual, hosted on Labor Day in Historic Downtown Brownsville is still drawing raves. The event ran well and was well-attended by fans from throughout Cameron County. San Benito, the capital of South Texas conjunto music, sent a healthy contingent.
“We’re contemplating a three-day extravaganza next year,”
Read more here: Downtown Browntown News
Conjunto crusader Lupe Saenz Jr. to thank for keeping Valley music alive
Posted: August 31, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, conjunto, Conjunto music, lupe saenz, narciso martinez, squeezebox, stca, tejano, tex-mex, valley Leave a comment »Narciso Martinez, the father of conjunto, performed at the fiesta after Lupe Saenz Jr.’s baptism in 1948, but Saenz’s love for the music may have started earlier.
Saenz’s father was a field worker in the Rio Grande Valley, and he would organize dances on the weekend to make some extra money.
“So he would make dances for the workers and … during the ‘50s and early ‘60s, he would make these dances and that’s where I learned about this music,” Saenz said.
The music is in Saenz’s blood and spirit, and the 63-year-old retired educator wants to keep conjunto alive for generations to come.
Read article from TheMonitor.com.
Wally González is Conjunto Music’s Iconic Stand-up Comic
Posted: August 31, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: accordion, bajo sexto, conjunto, Conjunto music, squeezebox, tejano, wally gonzalez Leave a comment »By Ramón Hernández
When it comes to musical parodies in Tejano music, the first name to pop up is Wally González, yet he is another of Tejano music’s pioneers long overdue for recognition.
He is important because he influenced Nick Villarreal and other novelty singer/songwriters to follow the same music vein. However, the 71-year-old living legend’s roots were in hard core música de acordeon.
González, who was four, when he used to spend all his nickels on the jukebox, says his father played harmonica and that, accompanied by Arturo Garza on guitar, he started playing accordion at school assemblies at twelve.
“I loved music so much, I dropped out of the seventh grade to work with Mario Sáenz of Los Gavilanes,” González said.
The then Weslaco-based group recorded two singles with Ideal – “Tus Recuerdos Estoy Viviendo” and “No Te Vayas Deteniendo” – and the latter was recorded by Los Dinos #Bernal BE-2013# in the mid-sixties.
“This was followed by five to six long-play vinyl 33 1/3 albums at a rate of about one per year and this, plus hits such as ‘La Apasionada,’ ‘Frijolitos Pintos’ and “La Del Moño Colorado,’ which made Billboard’s charts, created a great demand for us to tour all over California at a time when label-mates Los Alegres de Teran were also very hot…Read more via River City Attractions.
Remembering ‘El Parche’ a year after his death
Posted: August 12, 2011 Filed under: Conjunto music | Tags: chicano, conjunto, san antonio, squeezebox, tejano, tex-mex, texas, accordion, Conjunto music, conjunto hall of fame, steve jordan, parche 1 Comment »August 13 will mark the first anniversary of the death of accordion legend Esteban “Steve” Jordan. He left behind a musical legacy that will never be equaled in Chicano history: close to 60 albums (eight of them unreleased), a Jordan-ized band of sons, and a string of regional hit songs that spanned over four decades. He penned the unofficial Chicano national anthem, “Soy de Tejas,” and created a genre of music with only one practitioner — himself. Jordan was, in my estimation, the only musical genius Chicanos have ever produced.
Read more: Music – San Antonio Current.
