The Longoria family dynasty in Tex-Mex music begins in the 1920s in a Mississippi cotton field, with no one in the large family of Valerio Longoria Sr. aware that a master musician was growing up in their midst. He spent his childhood in the small towns of Ramondsville and Kenedy, TX, heading off as a child to work in the fields, grinding toil... [+] Read More

The Longoria family dynasty in Tex-Mex music begins in the 1920s in a Mississippi cotton field, with no one in the large family of Valerio Longoria Sr. aware that a master musician was growing up in their midst. He spent his childhood in the small towns of Ramondsville and Kenedy, TX, heading off as a child to work in the fields, grinding toil whether it be an Arkansas cotton field or a Texas orange grove. He first learned to play guitar and harmonica before picking up the accordion at the age of seven. He was largely influenced by the early-Tejano styles of Narciso Martinez but developed into the first of what would be collectively known as the nueva generación (new generation) responsible for the so-called classic stage of the Tex-Mex conjunto. Longoria got into the performing habit early and sustained a music career for more than 60 years. He made his first recordings at the age of 21. After the second World War, where he had kept up his chops by borrowing accordions in German, he moved to San Antonio where he found a happening music scene and began recording for Corona in 1947. Since then he has cut more than 200 sides released on a variety of labels, but his projects for Ideal present his most innovative takes on conjunto music. One of his biggest influences on the music was just a question of posture: it was largely Longoria that got accordion players used to the idea of standing up onstage. In addition, Longoria was the first performer to sing while playing the accordion as well as to include modern dance trap drums in the traditional conjunto ensemble. When he expanded to a drum set from a simple snare and folded in bass guitar it was the eggs in the flan of conjunto, so to speak. Longoria expanded the conjunto's repertoire by adding genres, such as the romantic Cuban-Mexican bolero. In a sense these additional styles made the ensemble more sophisticated, "jaitón" or hightoned. As a result, the previously lower-class conjunto came off the cantina bandstand a more respectable type of music. Longoria's self-taught ability to repair his own instrument gave him an incredible ability to manipulate unique sounds from his instrument, making him something like the Les Paul of the accordion. He could alter reeds on the accordion in order to make it vibrate, creating an completely new sound. He revolutionized the sound of the button accordion forever by simply tuning one of the reeds an octave lower. As a vocalist he popularized the "cancion ranchera" with his smooth style. His first recording in the cancion ranchera genre was the 1947 "El Rosalito," which became a classic in the conjunto repertoire, one of the most recorded songs in the history of the genre. In 1982, Longoria he was inducted into the Tejano Conjunto Hall of Fame and in 1986, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship Award. In 1988 he teamed up with Freddy Fender, resulting in the smash hit "Amor Chiquito." Longoria was also a master accordion instructor at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio for more than 19 years with hundreds of students. He appeared in the 1997 film Selena. Valerio Longoria Jr. has worked with his father's bands and is also a musical artist in his own right. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Flaco Jimenez is the best known of the talented Jimenez family of Tex-Mex accordionists. He has always been popular in the border region, and came to the attention of the wider pop-music-buying public with the help of roots-music enthusiast Ry Cooder. Since then Jimenez has toured internationally, made guest appearances on a number of... [+] Read More

Flaco Jimenez is the best known of the talented Jimenez family of Tex-Mex accordionists. He has always been popular in the border region, and came to the attention of the wider pop-music-buying public with the help of roots-music enthusiast Ry Cooder. Since then Jimenez has toured internationally, made guest appearances on a number of recordings, teamed up with Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender in The Texas Tornados, and continued to record on small labels for the Texas Norteno community. ~ Myles Boisen, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The Tejano music of the Texas and Mexico borderlands has been transformed into an exciting dance music by Los Palominos. While their repertoire includes polkas, rancheros, boleros, ballads, and cumbias and their instrumentation is based on the traditional sounds of accordion and bajo sexto, the Uvalde, TX-based band has crafted a very... [+] Read More

The Tejano music of the Texas and Mexico borderlands has been transformed into an exciting dance music by Los Palominos. While their repertoire includes polkas, rancheros, boleros, ballads, and cumbias and their instrumentation is based on the traditional sounds of accordion and bajo sexto, the Uvalde, TX-based band has crafted a very modern-sounding music. Formed in 1986 as Los Tremendos Pequenos (Little Giants), Los Palominos features the four Arreola brothers: Johnny on accordion, James on bajo sexto, Jesse on drums, and Jorge on bass. The group's vocal sounds reflect the harmonic interplay of Johnny and James.

Attracting the support and encouragement of Armando "Mando" Lichtenberger, Jr. and Oscar De La Rosa of La Mafia, Los Palominos were able to secure a recording contract with Sony Discos. Their 1994 album, Corazon de Cristal, attained gold status, while the title song became a hit in the United States and Mexico. Los Palominos reached their creative apex with their album Por Eso Te Amo (That's Why I Love You), which spent seven weeks in the top slot of the world music charts and earned a Grammy award as Best Tejano Performance of 1999. The group released numerous award-winning compilations and original recordings through 2006, including Poco Mas, Tocame, and Atrevete. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Led by 90-year-old guitarist and vocalist Don Regelio Martinez, La Sonora Matancera has been called, by the Guinness Book of World Records, "the group with the longest duration." Formed by Valentin Cane, bassist Pablo "Babu" Vasquez, vocalist Eugene Perez, timbale player Manuel "Jimagua" Sanchez, trumpet player Ismael Goberna, and guitarists... [+] Read More

Led by 90-year-old guitarist and vocalist Don Regelio Martinez, La Sonora Matancera has been called, by the Guinness Book of World Records, "the group with the longest duration." Formed by Valentin Cane, bassist Pablo "Babu" Vasquez, vocalist Eugene Perez, timbale player Manuel "Jimagua" Sanchez, trumpet player Ismael Goberna, and guitarists Domingo Medina, Jose Manuel Valera, Julio Gobin, and Juan Llopiz Baptist, the band has gone through many personnel changes in more than seven decades. Vocalists in the group have included Daniel Holy, Nelson Pinedo, Albert Beltran, Bobby Hood, Argentine Carlos, and its greatest alumni, Celia Cruz. Original director, Valentin Cane, led the band until poor health forced him to retire at the end of the 1930s. Initially known as Septeto Soprano, the group adapted its name to La Sonora Matancera in 1932. Leaving Cuba, at the advent of the revolution of the 1950s, the group settled in New York, where they continued to share their love of salsa with enthusiastic audiences. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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Drawn from his Arhoolie recordings (there is also a live recording from the soundtrack of the Chulas Fronteras documentary), this is a satisfactory 16-track compilation with tracks spanning the '50s to the '80s, although, unfortunately, exact dates are not given in the liner notes. The different sources for the material allow for a greater range... [+] Read More

Drawn from his Arhoolie recordings (there is also a live recording from the soundtrack of the Chulas Fronteras documentary), this is a satisfactory 16-track compilation with tracks spanning the '50s to the '80s, although, unfortunately, exact dates are not given in the liner notes. The different sources for the material allow for a greater range of sounds than is frequently heard on conjunto records. Although Flaco sings throughout, he also duets with Fred Ojeda, Toby Torres and Henry Zimmerle. Purists may frown on the inclusion of an instrumental, "Poquita Fe," with slide guitar by high-profile guest Ry Cooder, but frankly, for those who don't specialize in conjunto, it makes for a nice change of pace. Another Anglo, Peter Rowan, takes a guest vocal on his composition, "The Free Mexican Airforce." ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Roots-conscious border music from a pioneer of the genre, excelling here on the catchy "cumbia" rhythm. ~ Myles Boisen, All Music Guide

Roots-conscious border music from a pioneer of the genre, excelling here on the catchy "cumbia" rhythm. ~ Myles Boisen, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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