On May 5 and 6 at Heritage Arts Productions, 1547 S. Richey St, Pasadena, TX. (tel. 281-780-8656), there will be two Roland Workshops. A free Roland V-Accordion Workshop will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2012 from 1:30 to 3:30PM. The event will be hosted by Heritage Arts Productions and conducted by Roland V-Accordion Artists, Chris Rybak and Santiago Jimenez, Jr. who will offer:
1:30 to 3:30 – Performance Workshop – open to Keyboard & Button accordionists
3:30 to 5:30 – Roland V-Accordion Demonstration, upgrades installed, “Learn your Menus & Sets”!!!! and much more….

Chris Rybak is one of the most popular accordion entertainers in Texas. He can be found performing all across the state throughout the year. Combining his love of music, strong Czech Heritage, and arousing charisma, this accordion cowboy has what it takes to entertain audiences through his showmanship and fresh enthusiastic musical style.

Santiago Jimenez, Jr., a three-time Grammy nominee, is best known for remaining in the tradition of his father. That is, the instrumentation which he utilizes, the repertoire which he performs, the style of his compositions and, above all, his style of playing the button-accordion remain in the century-old tradition of south Texas accordionists.

There will be a free Diatonic Performance Workshop on Sunday, May 6, 2012 from 1:30 to 3:30 PM. It is hosted by Heritage Arts Productions and conducted by Roland V-Accordion Artist, Boni Mauricios, who is one of Corpus Christi’s finest and played for the Hometown Boys albums several years ago. He is currently singing with them again. He has his own style and it’s definitely got some South Texas sentimiento.

Boni Mauricio is a well known Conjunto/Tejano accordionist, singer and recording artist from Corpus Christi Texas. Boni has a long history as a studio musician and member of several well know groups such as The Hometown Boys and Mingo Saldivar. He was inducted into the “Tejano Roots Hall of Fame” and performs throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
12:30 to 1:30 – Come EARLY and enjoy an hour to MEET & GREET Boni (Snack Furnished)
1:30 to 3:30 – 2 hour workshop featuring the NEW ROLAND FR18 Diatonic Digital Accordion.
From 4-7 PM, Heritage will host their annual Cinco de Mayo / World Accordion Day Parking Lot Party. Bring your instrument and JOIN in – Boni is going to stick around and play a little!

One of the major figures in Tex-Mex border music,Santiago Jimenez, Jr. is a singer and accordion virtuoso of the first rank. Santiago Jiménez, Jr. (born April 8, 1944) is a folk musician who has won a National Heritage Fellowship in 2000 for Lifetime Achievement in traditional Tex-Mex/folk music. His father, Santiago Jiménez Sr.was a pioneer of conjunto music. His older brother Leonardo “Flaco” Jiménez is considered by many the most well known Tejano accordionist. Santiago’s style is more traditional than that of his brother Flaco, who is noted for mixing his music with many styles outside the Tejano genre.

Santiago performed at the 2006 National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia. In 2011 he performed at the 50th Anniversary Concert for Arhoolie Records, held in Berkeley, California. Portions of that performance appeared in the July-4th-Weekend, 2011 edition of the public radio program American Routes.

Santiago is a 3 time Grammy nominee, has toured all over Europe, in countries such as Germany, Austria, Holland, United Kingdom, France, Russia. He has also performed over the United States. Santiago started playing at the age of 15, and by the age of 17, he was doing his first recordings. He has a total of 70 different albums and CDs to his name. Santiago is a welcomed addition to the Roland V-Accordion team,. Santiago is also now performing with Roland V-Accordion artist and Product Specialist Chris Rybak.

His father virtually invented the conjunto instrumental style, and Santiago’s playing follows in that tradition while at the same time incorporating much of the more modern approach made popular by his brother Flaco. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has honored Santiago Jimenez Jr. with two Grammy nominations. Some of Santiago Jr.’s first recordings were on local labels — Lira, Magda, Discos Grande, Corona — and were sold on 45 rpms. In 1960, at age 17, he recorded a full-length album with Flaco. Recent recordings, including Corazón de Piedra and Canciones de Mi Padre, have appeared on Watermelon Records, in Austin.

The songs, in Spanish, are lively and direct and deal with real-life situations — work, love and dance. More than a revivalist, Santiago Jimenez Jr. is a living memory of a time when the living Mexican-American people Of South Texas were making their presence known amid social oppression, forced assimilation and economic difficulty.
The music represents the experience of a people and is celebrated for having helped shape a society that remains strong in its identity and cultural presence.

Chris has been surrounded by music since birth. His father, Leroy, has performed with his own polka band throughout the state of Texas.. As a child, Chris’ mother brought him to all of the band dances. Chris fell in love with music and the accordion while watching his father perform. At 8 years old, Chris began piano lessons. By age 12, he started playing the accordion. During his teenage years, Chris played trumpet for the high school marching band By age 14, he was often a requested guest of country music shows all over Texas. At the age of 18, Chris realized he wanted to make his living playing music!

Performing with passion, fire, commitment and skill, his high-energy style of accordion music has attracted much attention. He has recorded numerous albums and continues to record. Chris Rybak’s past performances includes festivals of all types, country clubs, college dances, picnics, state and county fairs, weddings, corporate functions, country music parties, cruise ships and more – basically anywhere there’s a stage. He also has performed throughout Europe.

Chris joined the Roland team as a V-Accordion® Product Specialist in February of 2008 and is currently looking forward to working with Roland’s newest member, Santiago Jimenez Jr. on a new multicultural CD coming out soon!

For further information:
Steven Albini
V-Accordion Product Manager
Roland Corporation U.S.
323.890.3700 x 2353
steven.albini@rolandus.com