Publisher Description

Max Baca is one of the foremost artists of Tex-Mex music, the infectious dance music sweeping through the Texas-Mexico borderlands since the 1940s. His Grammy-winning group, Los Texmaniacs, and his extensive work with the accordionist Flaco Jimmenez established the Albuquerque-born and San Antonio-based bajo sexto player/bandleader as a spokesperson for a too-often-maligned culture. The list of artists who have contributed to Los Texmaniacs' albums include Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Rick Trevino, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and Lyle Lovett.

Max Baca was born to play music. By his eighth birthday, he was already playing in his father's band. Polkas, redovas, corridos, boleros, chotises, huapangos, and waltzes were in his blood. Baca's music grew out of the harsh life of the borderland, and the duality of borderland music--its keening beauty--remains a recurring theme in everything he does.

Author Biography

Max Baca is the founder of Los Texmaniacs, one of the top conjuntos in the world. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he lives in San Antonio, Texas. Craig Harris has taught, written about, photographed, and played music for more than four decades. His most recent book is Bluegrass, Newgrass, Old-Time, and Americana Music. He hosts The Craig Harris Show, a weekly radio show out of Washington, DC. Daniel Sheehy is the director and a curator emeritus of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Review

"I love this book for its freshness, its enthusiasm. It is a life story, not just of Max Baca but of many of the musicians who perform the border music of the lower Ro Grande Valley and beyond. It tells of gigs from border bars to concert halls in Europe and battlefields in Afghanistan. It reveals the spirit of a culture founded in family tradition, honor in friendship, and love of music. Read this book and listen to the music of the borderlands. It's beautiful."--Jack Loeffler, author of Headed into the Wind: A Memoir and coauthor of La Msica de los Viejitos: Hispano Folk Music of the Rio Grande del Norte
"Max Baca is an American original. The music he makes is indistinguishable from the life he has lived, and it could never have happened anywhere else in the world."--Daniel Sheehy, curator emeritus, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
"Max Baca's memoir offers an invaluable contribution to the very thin body of memoirs written by nonwhite musicians who have been key figures in the historical development of Hispanic musical cultures in the United States."--Ana R. Alonso-Minutti, coeditor of Experimentalisms in Practice: Music Perspectives from Latin America

Long Description

Max Baca is one of the foremost artists of Tex-Mex music, the infectious dance music sweeping through the Texas-Mexico borderlands since the 1940s. His Grammy-winning group, Los Texmaniacs, and his extensive work with the accordionist Flaco Jimmenez established the Albuquerque-born and San Antonio-based bajo sexto player/bandleader as a spokesperson for a too-often-maligned culture. The list of artists who have contributed to Los Texmaniacs' albums include Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Rick Trevino, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and Lyle Lovett. Max Baca was born to play music. By his eighth birthday, he was already playing in his father's band. Polkas, redovas, corridos, boleros, chotises, huapangos, and waltzes were in his blood. Baca's music grew out of the harsh life of the borderland, and the duality of borderland music--its keening beauty--remains a recurring theme in everything he does.

Review Quote

"Max Baca's memoir offers an invaluable contribution to the very thin body of memoirs written by nonwhite musicians who have been key figures in the historical development of Hispanic musical cultures in the United States."--Ana R. Alonso-Minutti, coeditor of Experimentalisms in Practice: Music Perspectives from Latin America

Details