![]() For instance, there's a re-creation of the recording studio of Ideal Records, where early conjunto heroes cut their first records in San Benito back in the 1940s and 50s. Located in the historic Aztec building, it's filled with artifacts collected by lifelong conjunto fanatic Rey Avila. San Benito recently opened the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the only one of its kind, with a special exhibit dedicated to Martínez. Martínez came to be known as the Hurricane of the Valley. They're believed to be the first conjunto recordings. He recorded La Chicharroneraand El Troncanal, played on a two-row button accordion and accompanied by guitarist Santiago Almeida, for Bluebird Records in a San Antonio hotel room in the 1930s. ![]() The legendary Mexican accordionist Narciso Martínez, considered the father of Tex-Mex conjunto, grew up nearby. I think that's really incredible."Ī few miles from Los Fresnos is the town of San Benito, which calls itself the birthplace of conjunto. "These kids are not just learning how to play the accordion, but how to play with other instruments, how to do stage production and be a band leader. "This is one of the more remarkable developments with the growth of these high-school programs in the Valley," said Charlie Lockwood, outgoing executive director of Texas Folklife, which sponsors the Big Squeeze. He got his start in the varsity conjunto band at Los Fresnos High School. It's just a really nice kind of outlet to show my ethnicity."Īs it happens, the recent grand champion of the 2023 Big Squeeze Contest, a statewide accordion competition, was 20-year-old Eligio Martinez. "And I feel like I can show part of myself in the music. "I feel like I'm taking part in my culture," Aguilar says. She plans to be a radiologist and keep performing this music that's in her heart. She says her dad played conjunto, as did her grandfather. I feel like I'm taking part in my culture." ![]() NPR Conjunto Halcon bassist Iliana Aguilar describes the music as "like a Mexican, Tex-Mex type of style. "There's huapangos, there's cumbias, there's polkas, you know, it's all just like a Mexican, Tex-Mex type of style." "It's like a variation of different styles," says 18-year-old bass player Iliana Aguilar. And the students seem to like it that way. Longoria has introduced some modern influences, but he tries to keep it traditional. "They don't see it as music because there's no sheet music involved."Ĭontemporary conjunto is getting mashed up with hip-hop and reggaetón, and its popularity is spreading to Spanish-speaking neighborhoods far and wide. "To some people conjunto music is not true music because it's not on paper," he says. Longoria says conjunto is treated like a stepchild. A Texas UIL spokesperson in Austin said no school has asked for conjunto to be a formal category, like mariachi or orchestra. "You feel that want-to-get-up-and-dance."Ĭonjunto competition is not sanctioned by the University Interscholastic League. NPR Student musicians of the varsity ensemble Conjunto Halcón make music that makes you "feel that thump," says band director Juan Longoria Jr. Year over year, however, Los Fresnos' Conjunto Halcón - in their maroon coats, black cowboy hats and boots - is the winningest student ensemble in the Valley. This year's winner was Palmview High School's Conjunto La Tradició n. In the Valley, the cutthroat high school conjunto competition is staged by a nonprofit called La Cultura Vive en Brownsville. "It's dance music and you have to feel that thump, you have to feel that want-to-get-up-and-dance," Longoria says. Like the blues and bluegrass, conjunto is the music of working people, the music of everyday life. ![]() ![]() Today, conjunto is as familiar in the Rio Grande Valley as the spindly palm trees, flocks of green parakeets and orchards of ruby red grapefruit. The accordion influence came from the polka bands of Czech, Polish and German immigrants. It's a danceable fusion of Mexican, European and American song styles that developed in South Texas and Northern Mexico over the last 150 years. NPR Juan Longoria Jr., a renowned accordionist in his own right, is creator and director of the award-winning conjunto program at Los Fresnos High School.Ĭ onjunto, Norteno and Tejano are branches of the same musical tree. ![]()
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