How Mexico Learned To Polka

*Not sure how I missed this. Legendary cojunto accordionist Flaco Jimenez received a Lifetime Grammy Award recently, we published a video tribute to mark the occasion. But NPR also paid tribute to Flaco and to conjunto music in general, tracing the history of the tradition with a cool anecdote about Narciso Martinez, considered the father of conjunto music. I don’t agree with the headline, it’s not about Mexico, it’s about South Texas and Tejanos. Still, the story is cool, have a listen. VL

By NPR

A casual listener would be forgiven for not knowing one kind of accordion music from another. But where two cultures in particular are concerned, the similarity comes with a century-old backstory involving immigration and imitation.

On the 76th birthday of Flaco Jimenez — one of the instrument’s most celebrated living players — Morning Edition asks how the accordion-heavy folk music of northern Mexico came to sound so much like the polkas and waltzes of Eastern Europe. Hear the conversation, featuring Felix Contreras of NPR’s Alt.Latino and Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records, at the audio link.

Click HERE to listen to the podcast.

[Photo courtesy of The Arhoolie Foundation Frontera Archive/UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press]