Leonardo “Flaco” Jiménez was born to accordion royalty in 1939 in San Antonio. At the age of 7, he began performing with his dad and grandfather, both of whom were accordion masters in the conjunto genre.
In a 2022 interview with accordion manufacturer Hohner, Jiménez talked about how each generation in his family had bought new generations of button accordions, which offer a huge range of notes compared with accordions that have piano keys on them.
“My grandpa used to play the Hohner one-row, and then my dad started recording and learned how to play because of watching my grandpa play,” he said. “So he caught on, and he managed a two-row Hohner. Then I picked it up, and then a three-row came.”
At the age of 15 he recorded a mariachi-style album, “Los Caporales.” Over the next few years, Jiménez collaborated with other musical legends like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, finding new connections with his music.
In 1987, Jiménez won his first Grammy for his album “Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio” – or “I’ll leave you in San Antonio.” In the following years, he worked with fellow musician Doug Sahm on a few projects. Jiménez, Sahm Augie Meyers and Freddy Fender formed the Texas Tornados.
Kathleen Hudson from Schreiner University in Kerrville interviewed Jiménez , who described working with the Tornados as “a big enchilada with different flavors of different things.”
