Alt.Latino: Los Texmaniacs keep tradition alive

NPR Music

In this episode of Alt.Latino, host Felix Contreras sits down with Los Texmaniacs after their Tiny Desk performance to explore the rich trad

Key takeaways

• Conjunto music blends European folk influences with Spanish-language storytelling and is deeply tied to Texan-Mexican identity.
• Flaco Jimenez played a pivotal role in shaping the band members' musical journeys, serving as both mentor and family figure.

Main topics

• Conjunto music history
• Influence of Flaco Jimenez

Notable quotes

"Once I heard him play, I was like, oh, my God. You know, and he would just turn your head, man." – Max Baca on hearing Oscar Tejas.

"Those strings are there for a reason." – Flaco Jimenez teaching Max Baca to use all the bajo sexto strings.

Conclusion

Los Texmaniacs exemplify how traditional conjunto music remains vibrant and relevant

Transcript preview

Speaker 7 (0:00) This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy, David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant turn. And it did take me a while to realize it's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right. Because the monkey pressed the button. Surprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (0:28) From NPR Music, this is Out Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. Speaker 5 (0:31) And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Let the chisme begin. And Felix, we do have some real chisme this week. It is September, which means, you know what it means. Yes, I do. It means it's time for our annual takeover of the Tiny Desk Latin Music Month, or El Tiny. This is our sixth year doing it, Felix. And I think it's fair to say, this is my favorite lineup we've ever had. Speaker 1 (0:55) Ooh. Wow. On the record. Okay. In Speaker 5 (0:58) case you haven't seen it, we announced who will be playing, which includes this year... Speaker 5 (1:03) Drumroll, please, Felix. Speaker 1 (1:06) We Speaker 5 (1:06) have the Chilean-Mexican-adopted Mon Laferte from Peru, the legendary Los Mirlos with their cumbia amazónica, the young Dominican vocalist Yendri, and also from the Dominican Republic, Alex Ferreira. We Speaker 1 (1:20) also have some jazz this year, Ana, with Melissa Aldana. Of course. And the great Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Mexican Ska is represented by the veterans Panteón Rococo, and Los Texmaniacs offer up some music from Texas. Speaker 5 (1:34) Of course, I had to sneak in some Brazil in there, Felix. One of my absolute favorites, Tim Bernardes, brought just a guitar to enchant us. We also have one of your all-time favorites, Draco Rosa, and, of course, Los Jefes de los Jefes, Los Meros Meros, this year, Los Tigres del Norte. So, this year we're doing something a little different. pulled aside a couple artists after their tiny desk to talk about some of their favorite music, some of their most inspiring music, their own music, and tell us a bit more, give us some more context, social, cultural, historical, personal, around some of this music and how it's impacted them. So you kicked us off, Felix, with Los Tex Maniacs. Speaker 1 (2:23) So if you don't know about them, Los Tex Maniacs are a Grammy-winning band from Texas that played that accordion-driven music that originated along the border called Conjunto. But they also include a healthy amount of blues, R &B, and a dash of country. Max Baca formed the band in 1997, and the fact that he is from Albuquerque and he has mastered the acoustic guitar known as the bajo sexto shows how influential Conjunto is to all of the Southwest. Speaker 7 (2:49) Marina, Marina, Marina. Speaker 1 (3:05) The Tiny Desk from Los Texmaniacs will be out soon, but in the meantime, here's my conversation with the band right after they played their show. No, our chat wasn't just about their music. They also shared their deep knowledge of the history of Spanish language music from Texas. First, let's meet the members of the band. Speaker 2 (3:23) Hi, I'm Max Baca from Los Texmaniacs, the bajo sexto player. Hi, I'm Josh Baca of Los Texmaniacs, accordion player. Speaker 4 (3:29) Hi, I'm Noel Hernandez. I play bass with Tex Maniacs. Speaker 3 (3:32) Hi, I'm Chris River. I play drums with Tex Maniacs. Speaker 1 (3:40) It's always struck me how dedicated you guys are to tradition. And this is music that's conjunto, corrido, everything is so old. It's such part of the Mexican and Mexican-American identity, Tejano identity. But you guys are like, you keep it fresh, you keep it vital, you keep it young, you keep it dynamic. So what we want to do today is talk to you about what are some of the songs that inspired you to play the instruments that you play? that turned you on to the music or made you decide that this is the path that you wanted to take. Let's start with you, Max. What is you playing the bajo sexto, which is unique to Conjunto? Speaker 2 (4:21) Yes, it's vital to Conjunto music. And the first time I heard a bajo sexto, my dad was practicing in his living room with his band, Max Bacchese Conjunto Norteño. I was seven years old. And the bajo player... you know, was playing the bajo. The Speaker 1 (4:38) bass. Speaker 2 (4:38) Yeah. Well, it's a bajo sexto. He had a bajo sexto. And so I heard it and I got attracted to that instrument. It has this attraction. But what really sold me was when my dad took me to see Flaco Jimenez, me and my brother, and I heard this bajo sexto player. His name was Oscar Tejas. And he was a, oh, man, once I heard him play, I was like, oh, my God. You know, and he would just turn your head, man, you know, these pisadas that he would do and stuff like that. That's what I said. That's what I want to do right there. I want to play Bajo like that guy. Speaker 1 (5:10) F. Lockley Minnows was probably the most famous and well-known accordion player out of Texas. And so you saw that early on. You saw them play together when you were a kid. And then eventually you end up playing with them, man. Speaker 2 (5:23) Yes, it was a dream come true, you know. to hear Flaco Jimenez playing. Flaco Jimenez is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a courtian player. And then what made it more special was he became part of the family. If he was on tour, he would stop at my mom and dad's house and my mom would cook him some enchiladas, chili chicken enchiladas from New Mexico. And Flaco loved them. And then from there we would practice, you know, and then he'd have to go do his gig. Me and my brother would go with him and that kind