NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) - On June 30th Smithsonian Folkways will release 'Borders y Bailes' from the Texas-Mexican conjunto band Los Texmaniacs. With 16 tracks in the polka, cumbia, ranchera, and bolero genres, this eminently listenable album from one of the genre's most respected ensembles is sure to kick up some dust. Los Texmaniacs is made up of bajo sexto player and group founder Max Baca, Oscar Garcia on bass, accordionist
David Farias, and drummer
Lorenzo Martinez.
'Borders y Bailes' is an album that represents both the original conjunto music established in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and the modern version with subtle rock-and-roll and country influences. Characterized by the grassroots dancehall performances, or funciones, popular throughout the border region during the first half of the 20th century, traditional conjunto is mainly comprised of accordion, the distinct sound of the bajo sexto, bass, and drumset. The bajo sexto is an extraordinary instrument with six double courses of steel strings spanning a wide, thick neck and a solidly crafted, full body shaped in the fashion of a six-stringed guitar, but bigger. By the late forties, the conjunto sound began to spread and evolve. The electric bass, drums and larger accordions were adopted, increasing the overall volume of the music and allowing for more complex harmonies.
Max Baca was born in 1967 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. By age eight, he was performing in his father's conjunto three or four nights a week to help put food on the dinner table. The differences between traditional and modern conjunto had been firmly established by that time, but Baca didn't branch out of the standard conjunto sound until he was approached by Flaco Jimenez, a stellar conjunto player with the group the Texas Tornados, which had experienced major crossover success. Jimenez has performed with Dwight Yoakam, the Rolling Stones, Ry Cooder and other non-conjunto artists. He also is the son of Santiago Jimenez Sr., a contemporary of the seminal 1930s conjunto composer and accordion player Narciso Martinez, whose recordings Baca cherished. Baca performed with Jimenez in the Texas Tornados and the influential Los Super Seven, and he remained committed to maintaining the creative flame he had cultivated with these bands when he formed Los Texmaniacs. Since then, Los Texmaniacs has attracted a cadre of first-rate conjunto musicians with a wide variety of musical backgrounds and interests.
The honoring of its living ancestors Narciso Martinez, Santiago Almeida, Valerio Longoria, Tony de la Rosa and Mingo Saldivar by the United States' National Endowment for the Arts confirmed conjunto in the major American vernacular musical tradition. Los Texmaniacs' 'Borders y Bailes' is an album that continues the tradition of conjunto while serving as testimony to the music's lasting presence in the American music experience.
NOTE: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings retail distribution is through RYKO Distribution at 800.808.RYKO. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings releases are available through record and book outlets. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, as well as the original Folkways, Cook, Dyer-Bennet, Monitor, Paredon, Collector and Fast Folk collections, are available via mail order at 1.888.FOLKWAYS or 800.410.9815 and via the Internet. Visit the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings website at https://www.folkways.si.edu and https://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/.
