The 23rd Annual Accordion Kings and Queens Festival will be held on Saturday, June 2nd, at Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Grammy-winners and accordion legends Flaco Jiménez and Mingo Saldivar perform with Grammy Award-winning Los Texmaniacs under the starry sky at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston’s Hermann Park. The night promises to be spectacular—not only with this historic performance—but also with performances by Dora and the Zydeco Entourage, the Ennis Czech Boys, and last year’s Big Squeeze Champion Ignacio “Nachito” Morales.
The star-studded affair will take place on Saturday, June 2, beginning at 6:00 PM. The festival is free and open to the music-loving public. Festival goers wanting seats in the pavilion area can pick up their free tickets the day of the festival at the Miller Box Office or become members of Texas Folklife and receive up to four reserved tickets.
The night will begin with The 2012 Big Squeeze Accordion Contest Playoffs. The finalists were selected at the Semifinals Concert and Playoffs at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin in April. This year’s finalists are: Peter Anzaldua, 15, of Brownsville; Omar Garza, 17, of Mission; Luis Gonzales, 16, of Grand Prairie; and Michael Ramos, 16, of Dallas. Texas Folklife’s Big Squeeze accordion contest 2012 finalists will compete for a grand prize package valued at $4500, including a $1000 cash prize, a brand new Hohner accordion and recording time at the historic Hacienda Records in Corpus Christi, as well as promotional support from SugarHill Recording Studios, Hohner, Inc., Hacienda Records and Texas Folklife, and other professional opportunities. The young accordionists will perform, and by the end of the night, the new Grand-Prize-Winner will be selected by a panel of esteemed judges and the festival crowd.
After the crowd has been primed by the young squeezeboxers, the accordion legends and stars will take over the stage. Flaco Jiménez and Mingo Saldivar are Texas music royalty and national treasures. Jiménez has received five Grammy awards over his sixty-year career—two of which were with the supergroups the Texas Tornadoes (Jiménez, Doug Sahm, Freddy Fender, and Augie Meyers) and Los Super Seven. His father was Santiago Jiménez, Sr., one of the pioneers of conjunto music. Jiménez has appeared in the film Picking up the Pieces with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone. He also appears on the soundtrack to that movie, and in many others, such as Y Tu Mamá También, The Border, and Tin Cup.
The Hohner company collaborated with Jiménez to create the Flaco Jiménez Signature Series of accordions. Mingo Saldivar’s career spans four decades. He is a two-time Grammy nominee, as well as a recipient of the prestigious National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Dubbed the “dancing cowboy” by fans, Saldivar is a conjunto music legend. Los Texmaniacs won the 2010 Grammy award for Best Tejano Album, Borders y Bailes, on the Smithsonian Folkways label. Their sound has been called “hip music everybody can relate to” and is comprised of conjunto, rock, and rhythm and blues.
Putting the Queen in Accordion Kings & Queens, Houston’s own Dora and the Zydeco Entourage will also be performing on this accordion-loving night.
This year’s festival all-star lineup includes the newly formed Ennis Czech Boys who will undoubtedly keep the crowd on its feet. Rounding out the night and proving why he is the reigning Big Squeeze Champ will be Ignacio “Nachito” Morales.
The Accordion Kings & Queens Festival and The Big Squeeze are funded in part by the Board of Texas Folklife, the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, Houston Endowment, Hohner Inc., The Raven Grill, and FBA Design. Additional support for the contest is provided by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Hacienda Records, South Central Music Source, Cactus Music & Record Ranch, SugarHill Recording Studios, La Michoacana Stores, Embassy Suites Hotel Downtown Austin, the Still Water Foundation and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
Texas Folklife is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to presenting and preserving the diverse cultures and living heritage of the Lone Star State. For more than 25 years, Texas Folklife has honored the authentic cultural traditions passed down within communities, explored their importance in contemporary society, and celebrated them by providing accessible and joyful arts experiences. It is located in Austin, Texas, in the SoCo neighborhood—one of the city’s vibrant commercial and arts districts.
For further information:
Sheree Scarborough / (512) 922-5483 sheree.scarborough@gmail.com
Big Squeeze information:
Sarah Rucker: (512) 441-9255 / info@texasfolklife.org
In Photo: from left: Michael Ramos, Luis Gonzales, Peter Anzaldua, Omar Garza
Photo by Michelle Mejia, 2012, Texas Folklife
