Conjunto
The term conjunto (Spanish pronunciation: .
Mexican
Mexican conjunto music, also known as conjunto tejano, was born in south
German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is integral to the conjunto sound. Many conjuntos are concentrated in the Southwestern portion of the United States, primarily in Texas and California. In Mexico, the term conjunto is associated with norteño and tejano music. Since tejano was bred out of norteño music originally, this association is not entirely false. However, due to various cultural and socioeconomic developments in the 1900s, norteño musicians began trailblazing the tejano genre as a tangent to conjunto.[2]
In the United States and Mexico, a conjunto band is composed of four main instruments: the button accordion, the bajo sexto, an
drum set. They are popular in northern Mexico and southern Texas. German and East European settlers brought their accordions, waltzes and polkas to the region, which were adapted by the local population.[3] Texas accordion player Flaco Jiménez is probably the best-known conjunto musician in the United States, with a career spanning sixty years and earning him six Grammy awards. Chulas Fronteras is a documentary film from the 1970s which illustrates how the music meshed into the lives of families in south Texas and northern Mexico.[citation needed
]
Other types of Mexican conjunto
Jarocho
A conjunto jarocho is a type of
sones jarochos
in 34, 6
8 and 4
4.
Huasteco
A conjunto huasteco is a type of
sones huastecos
in 34 and 6
8, and rancheras.
Arpa grande
A conjunto de arpa grande is a type of
Mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of diatonic harp, Mexican vihuela
, guitar and two violins. Its repertory covers planeco music: sones planecos in 34 and 6
8, and rancheras.
Calentano
A conjunto calentano is a type of
musical forms such as Indias, malagueñas, peteneras, valses, polkas, pasos dobles, sones, chilenas, minuets, rancheras, and corridos
.
Cuban
Cuban conjunto music was developed in the 1940s by famous tres player
orchestras, the charangas, orquestas and danzoneras that were made popular by bandleaders such as Antonio Arcaño.[3]
Conjunto music was crucial in the early development of
chachachá and, most importantly, pachanga. Key charanga flautist, bandleader and entrepreneur Johnny Pacheco switched from the charanga configuration to the conjunto in 1964. However, the first New York-based conjunto was Eddie Palmieri's "La Perfecta", which had its debut in 1962. These conjuntos would be crucial in the early development of the most successful Latin American music genre to date, salsa. Notably, the introduction of Puerto Rican music styles such as bomba and plena within the conjunto and Cuban music in general resulted in what is known today as salsa.[3]
See also
- Mexican music
- Cuban music
References
- ^ Díaz-Santana Garza, Luis (2021). Between norteño and tejano conjunto. Lexington books.
- ISBN 978-1-59213-746-6.
- ^ a b c Torres, George. Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music. 2013.
- ^ Ordoqui García, Joaquín. "El Conjunto Kubavana: Primer Conjunto Sonero de Cuba". Herencia Latina.
Further reading
- Juan Guillermo Contreras Arias (ISBN 968-406-121-8.
External links
- PBS.org: documentary video - "Accordion Dreams" — history of Conjunto music.
- PBS−WBGU.org: documentary video - "Playing From the Heart" — about a Conjunto musician.
- Buscon.rae.es: "Conjunto definition"—(in Spanish)
- Texas Conjunto Hall of Fame Videos at Texas Archive of the Moving Image
