Friday, September 1, 2017

7TH ANNUAL FREDDY GOMEZ CONJUNTO FESTIVAL SATURDAY


Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Santiago Jimenez Jr., to perform at the 7th Annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert during Labor Day weekend.

The 7th Annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert, which is sponsored by local South Texas Conjunto Association, the Brownsville Society of the Performing Arts, City of Brownsville's Main Street District and Charlie Clark Valley Nissan, is scheduled from 4  to 11 p.m. on Saturday, September 2, 2017, at the corner of 11th and E. Levee Streets in Brownsville.

Santiago Jimenez Jr. will showcase the "Sons of Conjunto Legends" themed annual concert at 7:30 pm, and will be followed by RGV musicians, Ricardo Guzman Jr. and Gilbert Perez Jr.

Santiago Jiménez, Jr. was born on April 8, 1944, he is a folk musician who has won a National Heritage Fellowship in 2000 for lifetime achievement in traditional Tex-Mex/folk music. His father, Santiago Jiménez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music.

His older brother Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is considered by many the greatest Tejano accordionist ever, certainly the most famous. Santiago's style is more traditional than that of his brother Flaco, who is noted for mixing his music with many styles outside the Tejano mainstream. Santiago has performed at the 2006 National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia.

In 2011 he performed at the 50th Anniversary Concert for Arhoolie Records, held in Berkeley, California. Portions of that performance appeared in the July-4th-Weekend, 2011 edition of the public radio program American Routes. President Obama awarded Santiago a 2015 National Medal of Arts on September 22, 2016 for his contribution to American music. Contact Info: 210-875-1230

Ricardo Guzman Jr. follows his father's traditional conjunto footsteps that were started in the 1950's and has kept his signature conjunto name of "Sus Tres Aces". He started playing the drums with his dad professionally at the age of 8 and toured with his father and uncles.

He was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the STCA at its 19th Annual Conjunto of the Year Award ceremony on July 16, 2017 and was also awarded Conjunto of the Year in 2008 and Male Vocalist of the Year in 2011. His son, Ricky III, is the group's accordionist. Contact Info: 956-961-7474 / 956-569-7665

Gilberto Perez Jr. has also been playing the bajo-sexto with his legendary father, Gilberto Perez Sr. for over 40 years. While he occasionally still plays with his father, he has formed his own Conjunto, Gilberto "Chore" Perez Jr. y Sus Compadres with 2016 South Texas Conjunto Hall of Fame accordionist inductee, Juan Antonio Tapia, and has released a couple of CD's.

He has been an integral member of his father's conjunto and has had a major hand in the more than 50 musical releases. An just as importantly, "Chore" is also a major figure in his father's recording studio and therefore is responsible for recording and preserving the unique conjunto style of Gilberto Perez. Contact Info: 956-367-5726

The free and public event includes an In Memoriam ceremony for Departed Musicians, a presentation of Lifetime Conjunto Honor Certificates, Accordion Students Ensembles, Youth Musical Performance Showcase and a Conjunto Music Dance Competition with cash prizes.

Chair and table seating is available and food and beverages will be on sale. For additional Information contact STCA President Lupe Saenz at 956-463-6909.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not real music. 2-note accordion shit. NO WHITES will show up!

Diego lee rot said...

Genial, te veo allí

Anonymous said...

This is America! English music!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Enough with this beaner music man!! Whatever happened to good rock fest! Typical valley bullshit!

Anonymous said...

Conjunto = Mexican noise! It is worse than finger nails on a black board or some idiot squeaking a balloon.

Anonymous said...

As a Valley native, I grew up listening to Los Relampagos, Freddy Gomez then in the 70's to Freddy Martinez and all the "regional mexicano" that played in the Johnny Canales show in Channel 23 where it used to be taped. I LISTENED to that music BUT I NEVER bought the music because growing up at that time I listened to KRGV RADIO where Madonna, Culture Club, Survivor and all the 70's and 80's English music was played. I NEVER bad mouthed ANY of my friends or relatives who did listened or liked that music that I was NOT a fan. To each it's own. We MUST RESPECT other people's likes or dislikes if we want people to respect ours.
I don't like accordion music but I KNOW that it has its origins in GERMANY, I know that our elders adapted the German sound of the accordion with local instruments to develop the conjunto sound. I know that Fine Arts museums and cultural exhibits in OTHER PARTS of the country (YES< HERE IN THE USA) have expositions with history and music in the RGV, yet IGNORANT PEOPLE who use language that only shows lack of education and good manners put down the culture and origins of a type of music they KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. They think it's a Valley thing or a Brownsville thing. NO! It's a CULTURAL thing that has been studied way before the Chicano movement in the United States. Not interested? Fine. Your likes or dislikes are valued, you have the option to go and listen and look for what YOU like, you DONT have the option of putting down the majority of a population. It only shows your LACK of education and RESPECT towards others that think or feel different.

rita