The term conjunto (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as norteño and tejano, Cuban conjuntos specialize in the son, as well as its derivations such as salsa.
Mexican
Mexican conjunto music, also known as conjunto tejano, was born in south Texas at the end of the 19th century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is integral to the conjunto sound. Many conjuntos are concentrated in the Southwestern portion of the United States, primarily in Texas and California. In Mexico, the term conjunto is associated with norteño and tejano music. Since tejano was bred out of norteño music originally, this association is not entirely false. However, due to various cultural and socioeconomic developments in the 1900s, norteño musicians began trailblazing the tejano genre as a tangent to conjunto. In the United States and Mexico, a conjunto band is composed of four main instruments: the button accordion, the bajo sexto, an electric bass, and a drum set. The place of the electric bass was first filled by the tololoche, or contrabass, until it was replaced in the 1950s. They are popular in northern Mexico and southern Texas. German and East European settlers brought their accordions, waltzes and polkas to the region, which were adapted by the local population. Texas accordion player Flaco Jiménez is probably the best-known conjunto musician in the United States, with a career spanning sixty years and earning him six Grammy awards.
History
During the 1920s, American recording companies made efforts to enter the Chicano market, which brought the budding genre of conjunto music to a greater public eye, with some of the most prominent musicians from this time period being Narciso Martinez and Santiago Jimenez.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, conjunto music began to decline in popularity among tejanos because there were not as many young groups being formed and producing new recordings, but norteño groups did not have the same issue. After one of the most popular tejano groups of the 1960s, Conjunto Bernal, disbanded, norteño groups like Los Bravos del Norte, headed by Ramón Ayala, gained traction.
Beginning in the 1990s, progressive conjuntos, which used pitos (horns) and synthesizers, became more popular. Emilio Navaira was one of the most prominent tejano musicians during this time, and his popularity led to conjunto tejano music and the accordion becoming objects of cultural pride among Chicanos. Narciso Martínez who is known as "the father" of the Texas-Mexican conjunto for bringing in a surge of innovation and creativity as an accordionist. Martínez promoted the use of the accordion, but looked to stamp his own personal style. He abandoned the old, Germanic technique by avoiding the bass chord buttons on his two-row accordion. Narciso Martínez's new style became the starting point for the surge of the modern conjunto. At the end of the nineteenth century, one row accordions became inexpensive and readily available to musicians. Tejano musicians took up the accordion as a solo instrument and use it at rural social events such as fandango. As time went on, the Texas-Mexican conjunto has grown in prominence among Hispanics throughout the state of Texas, particularly in San Antonio, Austin, Alice, Laredo, the Rio Grande Valley, and Corpus Christi.
The Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival in Austin began in 2012 and is presented by Austin-based Rancho Alegre, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Conjunto music.
The Narciso Martinez Conjunto Festival in the Rio Grande Valley began in 1993 and is presented every fall by the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, a San-Benito-based nonprofit organization.
The Ruben Naranjo Memorial Music Festival in Alice began in 1999 following the death of conjunto legend Ruben Naranjo, who was from Alice. It had an annual status until 2005 when they held the last event.
Other types of Mexican conjunto
Jarocho
A conjunto jarocho is a type of Mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of requinto, arpa jarocha, jarana and leona, but can also have violin, pandero octagonal, quijada, marimbol or güiro. Its repertory covers sones jarochos in , and .
Huasteco
A conjunto huasteco is a type of Mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of guitarra huapanguera, jarana huasteca and violin, but can also have other violins and guitars. Its repertory covers sones huastecos in and , and rancheras.
Arpa grande
A conjunto de arpa grande is a type of Mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of diatonic harp, Mexican vihuela, guitar and two violins. Its repertory covers planeco music: sones planecos in and , and rancheras.
Calentano
A conjunto calentano is a type of Mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of violin, guitar and tamborita, but can also have other violin, guitarra panzona, guitarra sexta and harp. Its repertory covers calentano music: sones calentanos and gustos, and other musical forms such as Indias, malagueñas, peteneras, valses, polkas, pasos dobles, sones, chilenas, minuets, rancheras, and corridos.
Cuban
thumb|right|260px|Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez 1949.
Cuban conjunto music was developed in the 1940s by famous tres player Arsenio Rodríguez by adding several instruments (a piano, a tumbadora and various trumpets) to the typical son cubano ensemble, the septeto. Septetos consisted of a lead vocalist and guitar(s), double bass, bongó, maracas and trumpet. Even though the origins of the conjunto cubano can be traced to several sextetos and septetos of the 1920s, it wasn't until the 1940s when Arsenio Rodríguez expanded the Sexteto Bellamar that the conjunto was established. However, some authors argue that the Conjunto Kubavana, conducted by Alberto Ruiz, was the first Cuban conjunto, founded around 1937. The conjunto contrasted with ballroom orchestras, the charangas, orquestas and danzoneras that were made popular by bandleaders such as Antonio Arcaño.