Flaco Jimenez

Flaco Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is a Conjunto, Tejano music accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. Leonardo " Flaco" Jiménez began performing, at the age of seven, with his father, Santiago Jimenez, who was a pioneer of conjunto music and began recording at age fifteen as a member of Los Caporales. He played in the San Antonio area for several years, and then began working with Douglas Sahm in the 1960s. Sahm, better known as the founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet, played with Jiménez for some time. Flaco then went on to New York City and worked with Dr. John, David Lindley, Peter Rowan, Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He appeared on Cooder's world music album Chicken Skin Music and on the Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge. This led to greater awareness of his music outside America and, after touring Europe with Ry Cooder, he returned to tour in America with his own band, and on a joint bill with Peter Rowan. Jiménez, Peter Rowan and Wally Drogos were the original members of a band called The Free Mexican Airforce. Jiménez won a Grammy Award in 1986 for Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio, one of his father's songs. He was also a member of the Tejano fusion group Texas Tornados, with Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender. The Texas Tornados won a Grammy Award in 1990, and Jiménez earned one on his own in 1996, when his self-titled album Flaco Jiménez won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. In 1999, Flaco earned another Grammy Award for Best Tejano Performance for Said and Done (released by Barbed Wire Records), and one for Best Mexican-American Performance as a part of supergroup Los Super Seven. Jiménez has also won a Best Video award at the Tejano Music Awards and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Latin Magazine for "Streets of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens. Jiménez appeared in the movie Picking Up the Pieces, with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone, and also featured on the soundtrack. His music has featured in the soundtrack for other movies such as Y Tu Mamá También, The Border, Tin Cup, and Striptease. The Hohner company collaborated with Jiménez to create the Flaco Jimenez Signature Series of accordions. His brother, Santiago Jiménez, Jr., is also an accomplished accordionist who has recorded extensively. Jiménez's latest CD, Ya Volvi De La Guerra, was issued in 2009 by Fiesta Records. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.