Search - Flaco Jiménez :: Buena Suerte Senorita

Foot-stomping rhythms and lyrics make up this return-to-authentic-conjunto album by Flaco Jimenez, perhaps the genre's best-known ambassador. The party song "Borracho No. 1" kicks off the proceedings, and it is immediately evident that this is music from the heart of San Antonio's West Side, where there isn't a synthesizer in sight for miles. Everything here is genuine, from the accordion and bajo sexto tandem to the blues-tinged lyrics of surviving tough times. Other great cuts include the swinging "Mala Movida," on which Jimenez amazes with his quivering accordion leads, and the instrumentals "Tico Taco Polka" and "Swiss Polka," on which Jimenez gets full workouts. Also invigorating is the blood-rushing ranchera "Contigo Nomas," a tale of love practiced as devotion driven along by whip-sharp percussion. --Ramiro Burr