Conjunto Los Pinkys

Conjunto Los Pinkys play the traditional, Texas-style accordion/bajo sexto-driven dance rhythms known as "conjunto music".The music encompasses many regional musical styles including the polka, ranchera, cumbia, waltz, redova, shotis, huapango, bolero, mambo and country two-step. The group currently features musicians from Austin's Chicano music scene whose careers stretch back to the 1950's cantinas of East 6th Street.
Formed in Austin, Texas in 1993, they have recorded 2 CDs with Rounder Records and performed twice at the Tejano-Conjunto Festival en San Antonio, Accordion Kings in Houston, Fiesta de las Flores en San Anto, Del Rio Cinco De Mayo Celebration, The Johnstown Folk Festival in Pennsylvania as well as numerous clubs, dancehalls, weddings, anniversaries, sweet 15 parties and church bazaars.
Two of the members, Isidro Samilpa and Chencho Flores (special guest), are recipients of the 2005 Idolos del Barrio Lifetime Achievement Award for their outstanding contribution to Austin's Latino music scene.

Isidro Samilpa accordion, voz
Bradley Jaye Williams bajo sexto, voz
Rob Perez-Jewett upright bass

Are you looking for Los Pinkys' CDs? Our Rounder releases are available at many places on the web...amazon.com or cduniverse.com are good places to start...there are alot of good deals out there! ..

Isidro Samilpa...accordion, bajo sexto and vocal

EARLY YEARS

Born on April 4, 1935, like many people from his generation, Isidro spent his youth working in the cotton fields across the state of Texas. Living and working in the rural areas he heard violin, guitar and tololoche(upright bass) music at home-made (house) dances...bailes caseros. At 12 years old, Isidro started picking cotton in West Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma. This is where Isidro fell in love with the accordion. When he was 15, his mother purchased a two-row Hohner for him.

Isidro has been playing around Austin, Texas since the 50's. He cites the music of Camilo Cantu, Pete Guajardo, Mingo Zapata, Manuel Guerrero and Los Hermanos Garcia-Torres as early inspiration. These groups had their start in rural Central Texas...Austin, Lockhart and the Seguin Area which put them in Isidro's neighborhood of clubs and dancehalls around  rural Austin (Kyle,Lockhart,Maxwell).

Camilo Cantu (El Azote de Austin) was considered to be the Narciso Martinez or Santiago Jimenez of this area. His music was pure instrumental...he sat down when he played polkas, redovas, vals, shotis, etc. Isidro learned alot from "Camilito". Mr. Cantu never recorded and often failed to title his original compositions. Today, we have those polkas in the repretoire of Isidro and especially Johnny Degollado who, with the consent of Mr. Cantu, has added many of those polkas to his library of original songs.

In the 50's, Isidro would often go to listen to Los Hermanos Garcia-Torres (Los Pavos Reales)...one of his favorites. On a Christmas Eve, one of the brothers fell ill and was unable to sing. Lalo asked Isidro to fill in since he already knew all thier material. Today, Isidro's singing style is reminiscent of Eddie "Lalo" Torres and Salvador T.Garcia.

Accordionist Manuel Guerrero(older brother of Ramz Guerrero de Los Pioneers), who was stationed north of Austin while in the Army at Fort Hood in Killeen. He would often come to Isidro's gigs down on Sixth Street to the Bolero Club for a chance to play Samilpa's new red Hohner. Manuel is best known as one of the first Tejanos to take conjunto music to Europe and one of the first to sing in English (Buck Owens' Open Up Your Heart) and  a Spanish version of (In Heaven there is no Beer?). Isidro's accordion playing has the alegre feeling that was popularized by Manuel Guerrero (and later Flaco Jimenez) with a little laid-back feel of the music from the Rio GrandeValley.

Around 1959, Isidro took a break from playing the accordion. Like most conjunto musicians, Isidro is what you would call a natural musician...not formally trained, playing by ear...and proficiant on all  the instruments for conjunto... accordion, bajo sexto, bass and drums. In the late 60's, he played and recorded on Zarape label from Dallas playing electric bass with his brother-in-law Shorty Ortiz in the popular group Shorty and the Corvettes with thier hit "La Del Moño Colorado). He also recorded with Los Hermanos Sandoval (Corona label) and also sang Senon Reyes y Conjunto Corona.

The 70's

In the 70's he played bass with Julio Moreno y su Conjunto, later switching back to accordion with Joe Palacios y Los Diamantes and recording a few singles with JOEY Records. He also played accordion with John Salazar y Los Cuatro Nacionales and bajo player Ray Savala( they played every song in A flat!). He reformed the group in the late 80's along with bajo player John Aguilar, Augie Arreola and Manuel Herrera playing in the East side clubs.

He married Angelina Ortiz on June 6, 1954. They raised thier 9 children (7 boys and 2 girls) in South Austin at 3rd and Fletcher. They have 20 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Isidro has worked in the concrete business for over 30 years and at 70, is retired.  

Bradley Jaye Williams...bajo sexto, accordion and vocals

I grew up in the 60's in Saginaw, Michigan where I was exposed to a lot of good music, race riots, hippies, Polack jokes, public school K-9th grade, catholic high school, motorcycle, boat and stock car races, "butch" haircuts on the kitchen table, swimmin' and fishin' in pristine lakes...a good mid-western upbringing.
My dad played the clarinet by ear..ran a coin machine business....pin ball machines, billiard tables and juke boxes. He was a photographer in the Phillipines and New Guinea while serving in the Army/Air Force in WWII. My mom's side of the family are pure Polish...Her father, Karol, was a farmer and a horseman straight from the Old Country. He bought a player-piano for his young family during the Great Depression (he had his priorities straight). He never played it himself but loved music and sang the songs of his youth into a tape recorder a few years before he died. He spoke very little English...but was fluent in Russian and Polish.
There was never a shortage of vinyl recordings around our house.We had a jukebox in the living room and a Victrola, too. As a kid I liked everything about music...Edison cylinders, 45's, old 78's of Harry James, Jonah Jones, Hank Williams, Sr., Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Frankie Yankovic, Marv Herzog, John Phillip Sousa, Lil' Wally, Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Cream, Lil' Stevie Wonder, Buck Owens, ? and the Mysterians, Ray Price, Ferlin Husky...even Lawrence Welk. Polka music was cool only if you were a German, a Pole or a Mexican in my part of the world. It was shunned by a lot of my friends. Yet, just like every other kid on the block, I was into Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, too. I started playing conjunto music in 1986.Naturally, I'm attracted to the polka beat. I love the feeling of simple, natural sounding music and conjunto fulfills that. I dig the heavy,slow heartbeat-paced compas. It's honest, powerful and not pretentious.