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Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition

Santiago Jiménez Jr.

by Trudy Mercadal

American musician

Santiago Jiménez Jr. was born into a large family of conjunto musicians, one of the branches ofTexan-Mexican traditional music with admixtures of German, Polish, and Scottish strains. Through the decades he not only managed to keep the tradition alive, but also to expand its audience.

Latino heritage: Mexican and Tex-Mex Born: April 8, 1944; San Antonio, Texas

Also known as: Santiago Henriquez Jiménez, “Chief”

Areas of achievement: Music

EARLY LIFE

Santiago Jiménez Jr. was born in 1944 into a family dedicated to the Mexican tradition of music called Texas-Mexican Conjunto or “conjunto” for short. Jiménez Jr. grew up with two sisters and five brothers. His grandfather, Patricio Jiménez, played the accordion and would take Santiago to listen to the traditional German polka bands of New Braunfels, Texas, and its surrounding areas. The region is known for its spawning of different branches of Tejano music, which include mixtures of German and Polish polkas and waltzes, Scottish tunes, and Mexican folk. The music is extremely popular among Hispanics in Texas and Northern Mexico, especially in—although not limited to—the cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Corpus Christi.

Santiago Jr.’s father, Santiago Jiménez Sr., a greatly talented accordionist, became one of the iconic figures of conjunto music and among the first to record for phonograph records and play conjunto on radio in the 1930’s. Santiago’s brother became famous as Leonardo “Flaco” Jiménez, and played the accordion with many country western and Tejano stars. Eventually, Flaco Jiménez crossed over and played with rock bands such as the Rolling Stones. Jiménez Jr., however, remained faithful to his grandfather’s and father’s traditional style. Santiago Jiménez Sr., was inducted into the Tejano Music Awards Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Texas Conjunto Hall of Fame in 2003.

Jiménez Jr. began to perform professionally with his father around age eleven, at events such as the traditional Latino quinceañeras, weddings, festivals, and other events at local community centers, fairgrounds, and clubs. In 1958, at the age of seventeen, Jiménez Jr. began recording with his older brother Flaco—who would later become one of the most famous accordionists nationwide—and they released an album titled El Principe y El Rey del Acordeón (The Prince and the King of the Accordion). However, the two brothers, in time, would become somewhat estranged.

LIFE’S WORK

Jiménez Jr. did not find it difficult to gain respect as a musician, given his background. Nevertheless, while other conjunto bands incorporated electric bass guitar and drums, he continued to use the acoustic toloche, a Mexican double bass instrument, and rarely incorporated drums. Although he stayed close to the original parameters of conjunto, Jiménez Jr. expanded the tradition in terms of creativity, and was also able to expand his audience significantly.

Since releasing his first album in 1958, Jiménez Jr. made over sixty recordings—there is no exact count —with regional labels such as Disco Corona, Disco Grande, and Disco Sombrero, as well as national labels such as Arhoolie, Rounder, and Watermelon. Jimenez estimates that the number of records he has played in may exceed 100.

Eventually, Jiménez Jr. started his own label, called Chief Records, based on his nickname of “Chief.” His goal was to provide opportunities for younger or less renowned musicians to be heard. Jiménez Jr. is also known for having gathered an enormous catalog of conjunto music representing a wide array of traditions, including Mexican folk, old German and Scots tunes, and many of his father’s compositions.

Jiménez Jr. has toured widely, including to Europe and Latin America, as well as throughout the United States. Jiménez Jr., who enjoys recounting memories of falling asleep listening to his father play the accordion and watching him at work composing music, sees his role as upholding his father’s music heritage. In 2019, JiménezJr. recorded an album for Bull Calf Records in San Antonio, including polkas, waltzes, and rancheras. The album, titled El Chief, was released in 2020.

In 2012, the media made much ado about the Jiménez brothers reuniting on the stage for the San Antonio Tejano Conjunto Festival, labeled as one of the event’s top highlights. In 2000, Santiago Jiménez Jr. became a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Heritage Fellow. In 2015, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to American music. He currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, and continues to tour.

SIGNIFICANCE

Unlike his brother Leonardo “Flaco” Jiménez, who went mainstream and played with bands as varied as modern country and rock and roll, Santiago Jiménez Jr. not only remained faithful to the conjunto music tradition, but actively worked to disseminate it, promote young conjunto musicians, and amass an important archival catalog. His music is important to thousands of Hispanics who continue to enjoy the lively rhythms of the music they grew up with, and it is also an important work of preservation of American cultural heritage. As such, it has been recognized by fans, music scholars, academics, and by government institutions alike.

Further Reading

1 

Bennet, Steve. “Santiago Jiménez Jr. Keeps Conjunto Tradition Alive in New Recordings.” SanAntonioReport.org, January 14, 2020. https://sanantonioreport.org/santiago-jimenez-jr-keeps-conjunto-tradition-alive-in-new-recordings. A recent profile and interview in which Jiménez looks back on his professional trajectory and life.

2 

Cohen, Jason. “Flaco Jiménez and Brother Santiago Reunited.” TexasMonthly.com, May 21, 2012. https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/flaco-jimenez-and-brother-santiago-reunited. An article that describes the maneuvering involved in reuniting the brothers, who were not very close, on the stage. The event became an emotional remembrance of their father, Santiago Jiménez Sr.

3 

National Endowment for the Arts. “Santiago Jiménez, Jr.” Arts.gov, n.d. https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/fel-lows/santiago-jim%C3%A9nez-jr. An official bio of Santiago Jiménez Jr. at the NEA’s special site for its National Heritage Fellows. It also offers an audio recording of Jimenez performing.

4 

Peña, Manuel. The Texas-Mexican Conjunto: A History of a Working-Class Music. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010. A scholarly and detailed university press book on the history of the conjunto music tradition, which views it as an act of working-class self-affirmation.

See also: Flaco Jiménez

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Mercadal, Trudy. "Santiago Jiménez Jr.." Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition, edited by Trudy Mercadal, et al., Salem Press, 2021. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLLatin2e_0292.
APA 7th
Mercadal, T. (2021). Santiago Jiménez Jr.. In T. Mercadal, C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Mercadal, Trudy. "Santiago Jiménez Jr.." Edited by Trudy Mercadal, Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2021. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.