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Special Guests Tejano (also called conjunto) is the traditional Chicano adaptation of the accordion-based polka music played by the Germans who settled south and central Texas in the late nineteenth century. Tejano accordion great Flaco Jimenez heads up tonight's band, Flaco Jimenez y Su Conjunto. Jimenez has been called Tejano's ambassador to all other styles of music. Indeed, Jimenez has recorded with a vast cross-section of musicians: the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Brian Ferry, Los Lobos, Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Linda Ronstadt, Peter Rowan, Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, and others. Jimenez was a founding member of the early-'90sTexas supergroup, the Texas Tornados, with whom he earned his second Grammy award. But some say that Jimenez's first supergroup was formed in the '40s, when he was first learning accordion from his father, legendary accordionist Santiago Jimenez, Sr. The elder Jimenez is one of the musicians who first popularized Tejano music in the late '30s, and his son quickly followed in his footsteps. At the age of seven, young Flaco gave his first public performance when he joined his dad for a few numbers. A few years later, Flaco Jimenez was debuting as a band leader at a friend's 12th birthday party. In 1957, while still in his teens, Jimenez made his first recordings, under his given name-Leonardo Jimenez. (Flaco is a nickname meaning "skinny.") During the '60s and '70s, he recorded dozens of conjunto hits, toured extensively, and collaborated with several big names. In 1976, Jimenez and his music figured prominently in a Tex-Mex documentary, Chulas Fronteras, by acclaimed filmmaker Les Blank. Jimenez has been honored with countless trophies and prizes, including three Grammy awards. His latest CD is Buena Suerte, Señorita (Arista/Texas). Joining Jimenez tonight are: Max Baca (bajo sexto/bass), Oscar Tellez (bajo sexto/bass), and David Jimenez (drums). Johnny Gimble has been a favorite fiddle player in country music for decades. Gimble grew up near Tyler, Texas, and began playing fiddle at age nine. Three years later, he and his brothers formed a band called the Rose City Swingers; a year later they had their own radio show. After high school, he played with the Shelton Brothers Sunshine Boys in Shreveport, Louisiana, and toured the state with then-governor Jimmie Davis. In 1949, Gimble joined the legendary Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. He lived in various Texas cities in the following 12 years, playing with the likes of Lefty Frizzell, Ray Price and Marty Robbins before becoming the staff fiddler for NBC's 5-Star Jubilee. In 1968, Gimble moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and was soon in demand as a session player. His 1974 single with Chet Atkins, Fiddlin' Around, received a Grammy nomination. The following year, Gimble was voted Instrumentalist of the Year by the Country Music Association, an honor that he has received three times since then. Gimble was also honored by the Academy of Country Music, which named him Fiddler of the Year each year for almost a decade. Gimble appears in four motion pictures, including Robert Altman's Nashville and in the part of Bob Wills in Clint Eastwood's Honky Tonk Man. In 1994, Gimble was nominated for a Grammy for his performance with Asleep at the Wheel. That same year, he was honored with a prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Heritage Award is given to traditional folk artisans and musicians for their contributions to American culture. This July, Gimble will appear at Lincoln Center for the "Midsummer Night Swing." Performing with Gimble tonight is his four-member band, Texas Swing: Curly Hollingsworth (piano), an accomplished keyboard player who's worked with Gimble since the early '50s. Kenny Frazier (guitar), a professional musician and music professor for several decades and the author of a comprehensive, much-esteemed guitar studyguide, Class Strings. Dick Gimble (bass), Johnny Gimble's only son. The two have played together since Johnny was in the Texas Playboys. Joe Bullock (drums),who's played with Texas Swing for the past few years. Last year, San Antonio resident D.C. Nix laughed his way to the championship of the first annual "Oddest Laugh in Texas" contest, sponsored by Ripley's Believe it Or Not. This May, Nix returned, as a member of the esteemed judges' panel for the second annual contest. He and the other judges chose young Tyson Harper as this year's champion. Harper, an 11-year-old from Fort Worth, edged out Waco resident Erica Lewis, who took second place. Lewis, in turn, edged out Kirk Rutherford, whose laugh captured the third-place trophy. |
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An Interview with Heather Masse
In a 2009 interview, Heather Masse tells us about her earliest influences, auditioning in a women's bathroom, and a few memorable moments from A Prairie Home Companion.
Old Sweet Songs: A Prairie Home Companion 1974-1976
Lovingly selected from the earliest archives of A Prairie Home Companion, this heirloom collection represents the music from earliest years of the now legendary show: 1974–1976. With songs and tunes from jazz pianist Butch Thompson, mandolin maestro Peter Ostroushko, Dakota Dave Hull and the first house band, The Powdermilk Biscuit Band (Adam Granger, Bob Douglas and Mary DuShane).
