A combination of button accordion and bajo sexto, conjunto originated in the Texas-Mexico borderlands as a popular dance music and became a powerful form of regional identity. Today, listeners and musicians around the world have embraced the genre and the work of conjunto masters like Flaco JimÉnez and Mingo SaldĶvar.
Erin E. Bauer follows conjunto from its local origins through three processes of globalization--migration via media, hybridization, and appropriation--that boosted the musics reach. As Bauer shows, conjuntos encounter with globalizing forces raises fundamental questions. What is conjunto stylistically and socioculturally? Does context change how we categorize it? Do we consider the music to be conjunto based on its musical characteristics or due to its performance by JimÉnez and other regional players? How do similar local genres like Tejano and norteŃo relate to ideas of categorization?
A rare look at a fascinating musical phenomenon, Flacos Legacy reveals how conjunto came to encompass new people, places, and styles.
Acknowledgements Introduction: The Globalization of Conjunto
Part I: The Migration of Conjunto
1. We love you, Flaco!: Chicken Skin Music, Mingomania, and the
Inter/national Presentation of Conjunto
2. Ladies and gentlemen, Dodge presents Flaco JimÉnez!: Arhoolie Records,
KEDA Radio JalapeŃo, and the Mediated Dispersal of Conjunto
3. From Texas to Washington and across to Michigan and Illinois: Los
Cuatro Vientos, Los Texmaniacs, Los Lobos, and the U.S American Spread of
Conjunto
Part II: The Hybridization of Conjunto
4. You have to mix it up!: Seguro Que Hell Yes, the Texas Tornados, Los
Super Seven, and the Cultural Hybridity of Flaco JimÉnez
5. I play the jazz accordion!: Rueda de Fuego (Ring of Fire), My Toot
Toot, and the Country/Zydeco Influences of Mingo SaldĶvar and Steve Jordan
6. Its jealousy: Eva Ybarra and the Hybrid Offerings of Women in
Conjunto
Part III: The Appropriation of Conjunto
7. Thats my music!: Kenji Katsube, Dwayne Verheyden, and the Worldwide
Participation in Conjunto
8. ”Esto es globalizaciÓn!: Rowwen HČze, the Rolling Stones, and the
Commercialized Appropriation of Conjunto
Conclusion
Notes
Discography
Works Cited
Index
Erin E. Bauer is chair of the Music Department and an associate professor of musicology at Muskingum University.
