Flaco JimÉnez/Buena Suerte, Señorita

Flaco JimÉnez is, at least in Texas, accordion royalty; his late father and brother are also acknowledged masters of the squeezebox. Flaco's willingness to work with musicians from other genres has won him international fame; Doug Sahm, Ry Cooder, Peter Rowan and The Rolling Stones all employed JimÉnez on recording or touring projects. His fame was such that in the early 90s – when he was a member of the very successful Texas Tornados – Arista gave him a solo record deal: quite an achievement for a Mexican—American norteño musician.

The resulting two albums are reissued here on this single CD: 1994's Flaco JimÉnez and 1996's Buena Suerte, Señorita. Both albums are short - which is sensible, as tejano is a dance music that prefers short, sharp tunes - and are essentially aimed at providing fans of Mexican—American music with a good time. The opening track to 1994's eponymous album, ‘Seguro Que Hell Yes’, is a boisterous party tune that comes with keyboards overlaying the accordion, a commercial concession for the time. But things improve radically on the next tune, ‘El Pesudo’, when JimÉnez keeps things acoustic. Across both albums he pumps out bouncing waltz and polkas, the music as humid and beautiful as a San Antonio night.