Der am 11. März 1939 in San Antonio (Texas) geborene Tex-Mex-Musiker und Singer-Songwriter Flaco Jiménez (Bild) ist am 31. Juli 2025 gestorben. Der Künstler mexikanischer Abstammung war der wohl bekannteste Akkordeonist des Tex-Mex. Sein Vater Don Santiago Jiménez Sr. war – ebenfalls am Akkordeon – einer der Pioniere der Conjunto-Musik. Jiménez trat schon im Alter von 7 Jahren mit ihm auf und machte mit 15 Jahren seine ersten Plattenaufnahmen. Ab den 1970er-Jahren wurde Jiménez auch einem grossen Rockpublikum bekannt, nachdem ihn Doug Sahm für sein Album «Doug Sahm & Band» (1973) engagierte und er auf Ry Cooders Meisterwerk «Chicken Skin Music» (1976) mitgewirkt und ihn auf dessen Tournee begleitet hatte. Als gefragter Studio-Akkordeonist spielte Flaco auf über 100 Platten, u. a. von Peter Rowan, Santana, Dwight Yoakam, The Mavericks und den Rolling Stones. Er arbeitete auch mit Bob Dylan, Dr. John und David Lindley. In den 1990er-Jahren war Jiménez Mitglied der Gruppen Texas Tornados und Los Super Seven. Vor allem Flacos Album «Partners» (1992), aufgenommen mit Unterstützung u.a. von Cooder, Yoakam, Los Lobos und Emmylou Harris, wurde weltweit bekannt. Flaco Jiménez erhielt mehrere Grammys, den American Music Award, Tejano Music Awards und Billboard-Auszeichnungen. (*) Tausendsassa Jiménez wirkte zeitweise auch beim Schweizer Toni Vescoli mit, und Polo Hofer war ein grosser Bewunderer des Meisters.
Bild: Flaco Jiménez, 2022 – Foto: Listenyoungman – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flaco_Jimenez_at_Old_Settlers.jpg
Conjunto legend Flaco Jimenez dies at 86
Born into a family of conjunto pioneers, Flaco Jimenez took his Hohner three-row button accordion from San Antonio to the stages of the world, becoming the music’s greatest ambassador.
Casual music fans may not understand the extent of Jimenez’s influence, said Tejano music historian Ramon Hernandez.
«It’s not only a national loss, it’s an international loss,» Hernandez said. «Flaco was known worldwide, from Japan to Europe. Everybody knew who Flaco was.»
In spite of his stardom, Jimenez was «pura raza,» Hernandez said. «Nunca se le salio el West Side (Never did he lose the West Side part of himself). He was true to his roots. He could be playing a sold out stadium in Europe, and a week later he was doing a backyard barbecue with friends.»
Jim Kiest, Hector Saldana
https://www.expressnews.com/entertainment/article/flaco-jimenez-obituary-20797259.php
San Antonio’s conjunto music icon Flaco Jiménez dies at 86
Over the course of his seven-decade career, Jiménez received numerous awards and honors, including five Grammys — more than The Eagles, Carol King, Reba McEntire, Mariah Carey and Billy Joel. He also received a sixth Grammy as a Lifetime Achievement Award.
«Flaco introduced the Tex-Mex Chicano sound to the country. To country music, to blues, to rock, to zydeco,» said Josh Baca, the accordionist for Los Texmaniacs, during an interview with TPR earlier this year.
Jack Morgan
https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2025-08-01/conjunto-music-icon-flaco-jimenez-dies-at-86
Flaco Jiménez, Global Tejano Music Ambassador, Dead at 86
The accordion legend who played with everyone from the Rolling Stones and the Mavericks to Linda Ronstadt and Bob Dylan brought conjunto to the world.
Throughout his career, Jiménez served as a global emissary of conjunto, the 18th-century regional genre born in Texas that merged traditional Mexican music with the accordion-driven polka music from German immigrants.
«What Elvis Presley was to rock, Muddy Waters to blues…Charlie Parker to Jazz,» wrote the Chicago-Tribune in 1992, «Flaco Jiménez is to Tex-Mex (also known as conjunto or norteño) music.»
Jonathan Bernstein
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flaco-jimenez-accordion-dead-obit-1235398333
Flaco Jiménez, Grammy-Winning Icon of Tejano Music, Dead at 86
Born Leonardo Jiménez in San Antonio, Texas, in 1939, he emerged from a lineage of accordionists. His father, Santiago Jiménez Sr., and grandfather, Patricio Jiménez, were stewards of traditional conjunto music. But Flaco took the accordion beyond its roots, marrying the borderland sounds of polkas, waltzes and rancheras with genres such as country, rock and blues.
Isabela Raygoza
https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/flaco-jimenez-death-tejano-legend-dead-obituary-1236034933
A hallmark of Tex-Mex, Tejano and conjunto music for seven decades
In the 1960s, he began working with legendary Texas musician Doug Sahm (co-founder of the Sir Douglas Quintet) and over the years would go on to work with Dr. John, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. He released his first solo album, «Una Sombra,» in 1972, the first of more than 25 albums across five decades on a variety of labels, from D.L.B. and Arhoolie to Warner Bros. and Arista.
Jem Aswad
https://variety.com/2025/music/news/flaco-jimenez-tejano-accordionist-dead-1236476610
Tejano music legend Flaco Jiménez dies at 86
Jiménez is perhaps best known for his work with the Tejano music supergroup Texas Tornados, which included the talents of Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers. Texas Tornados won the Mexican/Mexican-American Performance Grammy in 1990 for their song «Soy de San Luis.» The band’s Spanglish style is on full display in their most popular track «(Hey Baby) Que Pasó?»
Carlos De Loera
https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2025-08-01/flaco-jimenez-tejano-conjunto-music-legend-dies-86
Fusing traditional Tejano sounds with blues, rock and country, he recorded with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Ry Cooder.
Clay Risen
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/arts/music/flaco-jimenez-dead.html
His sound was instrumental in defining tejano and conjunto music
Piper LeMoine wrote that «the soundtrack of the American south-west would be incomplete» without these two genres.
«The way I learned to play the accordion was on the wild and happy side, much like Cajun and zydeco music,» he once said in an interview. «One of my early idols was Clifton Chenier. The way he played, it was like the accordion was yelling at you: hey, take this. I like to make my accordion yell and scream and make it happy.»
Benjamin Lee
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/aug/01/flaco-jimenez-tejano-music-legend-dies
Bild: Jiménez on stage at Farnham, U.K., 1985 (on tour with Peter Rowan) – Foto: Tony 1212, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tony_1212 – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flaco_Jimenez_(musician)_on_stage_at_Farnham,_U.K.,_1985.jpg
Muere Leonardo «Flaco» Jiménez a los 86 años, pionero de la música tejana
Fundó la banda The Texas Tornados, con la que consiguió varios Grammys y se convirtió en un exponente del género.
El pionero de la música tejana y acordeonista Leonardo «Flaco» Jiménez murió la noche del jueves a los 86 años, informó su familia en un comunicado compartido en redes sociales.
Jiménez, originario de San Antonio (Texas), falleció «rodeado de sus seres queridos y se le extrañará profundamente», detalló el escrito. «Su legado seguirá vivo a través de su música y de todos sus fanáticos».
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Flaco Jiménez, muore la leggenda della fisarmonica Tex-Mex
Flaco Jiménez, icona della musica Tex-Mex e uno dei più grandi fisarmonicisti della storia della musica americana, è morto giovedì 31 luglio all’età di 86 anni a San Antonio, in Texas. A darne notizia è stata la sua famiglia attraverso un commosso post su Facebook: «Con grande tristezza condividiamo la perdita di nostro padre, Flaco Jiménez. Era circondato dai suoi cari e ci mancherà immensamente. La sua eredità vivrà nella musica e nei cuori di tutti i suoi fan».
Videos / Audios:
Flaco Jiménez – 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award (Living) | Folk Alliance International
Flaco Jimenez: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, 2012
Flaco Jimenez and Santiago Jimenez performing together for the 1st time in 32 years, 2012
Across the Borderline, Adam Aguilar, Flaco Jiménez, …, 2013
Flaco Jiménez & Max Baca – «Margarita, Margarita» [Studio Session], 2014
Ry Cooder, Flaco Jiménez, …, – He’ll Have To Go – Live 1977
Flaco Jimenez – En Vivo (1976)
Conversation with Flaco Jimenez, 2022
Fernsehen SRF, «10vor10», 23.11.1993, 5 Min.
Oral History Collection: Interview with Flaco Jiménez, 1986, 47:23
https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p15125coll4/id/1298
Across the Borderline – Bob Dylan (with Flaco Jiménez on accordion) – Montreux 1990
Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Flaco Jimenez, Goodnight Irene, Montreux 1990
Texas Tornados – Hey Baby Que Paso (Live From Austin TX)
Vescoli, Freund & Häusler: Hey Baby, was isch los? | Alpenrose | SRF
Mehr:
https://www.facebook.com/flacojimenezofficial
https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/leonardo-flaco-jimenez
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/flaco-jim%C3%A9nez-mn0000179335#biography
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/513182-Flaco-Jimenez?redirected=true
https://www.imdb.com/de/name/nm0422936
https://www.songwriter.co.uk/a11.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaco_Jim%C3%A9nez
(*) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaco_Jim%C3%A9nez
Bild: Flaco Jiménez, 2012 – Foto: H. Michael Karshis from San Antonio, USA, https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmk/7992652467/ – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.de – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flaco_always_Rocko!_(7992652467).jpg?uselang=de
#FlacoJiménez #TexMex #CHcultura @CHculturaCH ∆cultura cultura+
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