HOUSTON (AP) — Flaco Jimenez, the legendary accordionist from San Antonio who gained a number of Grammys and helped broaden the recognition of conjunto, Tejano and Tex-Mex music, died Thursday. He was 86.
Jimenez’s dying was introduced Thursday night by his household on social media. He was surrounded by members of the family when he died within the San Antonio dwelling of his son Arturo Jimenez.
“Dad was in peace when he left. He began saying his goodbyes a number of days earlier than. He mentioned he was happy with himself for what he had performed and he simply leaves recollections for the general public to take pleasure in. He mentioned he was able to go,” Arturo Jimenez instructed The Related Press in a telephone interview on Friday.
Arturo Jimenez mentioned a explanation for dying has not but been decided. His father had been hospitalized in January after getting a blood clot in his leg. Medical doctors then found he had some vascular points.
Born Leonardo Jimenez in 1939, he was recognized to his followers by his nickname of Flaco, which suggests skinny in Spanish.
He was the son of conjunto pioneer Santiago Jimenez. Conjunto is a musical style that originated in South Texas and blends completely different genres and cultural influences.
In keeping with the Butler College of Music on the College of Texas at Austin, the event of conjunto “started greater than a century in the past when Texans of Mexican heritage (Tejanos) took an curiosity within the accordion music of German, Polish, and Czech immigrants. The following Tejano accordion music, accompanied by the bajo sexto (changing the European tuba) quickly got here to characterize the Tejano lifestyle, which was carefully related to working within the agricultural fields. The music stays unchanged and serves as a logo that binds many Tejano communities in South and Central Texas.”
Jimenez refined his conjunto musical abilities by enjoying in San Antonio saloons and dance halls. He started performing within the Sixties with fellow San Antonio native Douglas Sahm, the founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet. Jimenez would later play with Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Ry Cooder and the Rolling Stones.
All through his profession, Jimenez added different influences into conjunto music, together with from nation, rock and jazz.
“He at all times needed to attempt to incorporate accordion into all types of various genres and easy methods to make the accordion mix in. That was at all times a fascination of his and he was in a position to,” Arturo Jimenez mentioned.
Russell Einhorn through Getty Photographs
Within the Nineties, Jimenez was a part of the Tejano supergroup the Texas Tornados, which included Sahm, Augie Meyers and Freddy Fender. The group gained a Grammy in 1991 for the tune, “Soy de San Luis.”
Jimenez additionally gained one other Grammy in 1999 as a part of one other supergroup, Los Tremendous Seven.
Jimenez earned 5 Grammys and was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
He was additionally inducted into the Nationwide Hispanic Corridor of Fame and NYC Worldwide Latin Music Corridor of Fame and was named a Texas State Musician in 2014.
Arturo Jimenez mentioned his father was a humble man who by no means needed to be a showman and was targeted on enjoying music for his followers.
“I’ve seen the place followers come as much as him and so they actually cry and so they thank my dad for all the nice music and the way dad’s music has been there for them in a number of conditions, both happiness or disappointment,” Arturo Jimenez mentioned.
When Jimenez was named a 2022 National Medal of Arts recipient, the White Home mentioned he was being honored for “harnessing heritage to counterpoint American music” and that by “mixing Norteño, Tex Mex, and Tejano music with the Blues, Rock n’ Roll, and Pop Music, he sings the soul of America’s Southwest.”
“We recognize the present of your musical expertise, which introduced pleasure to numerous followers. Your passing leaves a void in our hearts,” the Texas Conjunto Music Corridor of Fame and Museum mentioned in a submit on social media.
Kyle Younger, the CEO of the Nation Music Corridor of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, mentioned Jimenez “was a paragon of Tejano conjunto music” who “drew tens of millions of listeners right into a wealthy musical world they may not have found on their very own.”
Jimenez lived all his life in San Antonio, a metropolis that was “very near his coronary heart,” his son mentioned.
“They name him ‘el hijo de San Antonio’ and my dad at all times was happy with that,” Arturo Jimenez mentioned, quoting a Spanish phrase which means the son of San Antonio.
His household plans to have a non-public funeral service adopted by a celebration of his life with the general public.
