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Artist
Flaco Jiménez (born Leonardo Jiménez in San Antonio, TX, on 11 March 1939; died 31 July 2025) was an American singer-songwriter, and accordionist known for having played conjunto, norteño and tejano and remembered as a solo performer and session musician, as well as a member of the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received numerous awards and honors, including Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Grammys, Americana Music Awards, Tejano Music Awards, and Billboard magazine. With his father, Santiago Jimenez Sr., a pioneer of conjunto music playing the accordion, Jiménez was performing with his father by the time he was seven years old. He began recording at fifteen, as a member of Los Caporales. He played in the San Antonio area for several years, and then began working with Douglas Sahm in the 1960s. Sahm, better known as the founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet, played with Jiménez for some time. Jiménez then went on to New York City and worked with Dr. John, David Lindley, Peter Rowan, Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He appeared on Cooder's innovative world music album Chicken Skin Music. This led to greater awareness of his music outside America and after touring Europe with Ry Cooder he returned to tour with his own band, and on a joint bill with Peter Rowan. Jiménez won a Grammy Award in 1986 for "Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio", a song of his father's. He was also a member of the supergroup Texas Tornados, with Augie Meye