Biography
Narciso "El Huracan del Valley (The Hurricane of the Valley)" Martinez earned recognition as the "father of conjunto music." A tireless studio presence who could lay down 20 selections in one session, he shaped the essential sound of Texas-Mexico border music. Working independently, he cut enduring pieces including "La Chicharonera," "La Parrita," "La Polvadera," and "Los Coyotes," while his singular accordion also backed norteno and conjunto figures such as Carmen and Laura, Beto Villa's Orchestra, and the Mendoza Sisters, among them Lydia Mendoza's solo dates.
Martinez entered the world in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, the modest Mexican community directly opposite McAllen, Texas; as a child he crossed into the United States and grew up in La Palma near Brownsville in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Emulating his older brother, an accordionist, he took up the instrument himself by his mid-teens. Beyond the orquestra tipicas that blended violins, flutes, bass, and guitar, he drew from the styles of Jose "La Bamba" Rodriguez, Lolo Cavazos, Francisco Gutierrez, and Alejandro Aguire. Self-taught, Martinez abandoned the conventional German technique and cultivated a personal approach centered on the treble register; having begun on a two-row model, he adopted a three-row instrument by the late 1940s.
His proficiency had advanced sufficiently by 1928 to prompt thoughts of a professional livelihood. He spent time in Bishop, Texas, near Corpus Christi, absorbing the Bohemian, Czechoslovakian, and German repertoires performed by local immigrants. After marrying in 1931 he returned to La Paloma. From those early years through 1950 he collaborated regularly with bajo sexto player Santiago Alemeida, born in Skidmore, Texas. Their partnership amassed an extensive catalog encompassing polkas, redovas, schottishes, waltzes, mazurkas, boleros, danzones, and huapangos. On 21 October 1936, during his debut Bluebird session for RCA, Martinez scored a hit with "La Chicharronera"; the same date produced 20 titles for which he received $150. For Bluebird's Louisiana Cajun and Polish catalogs he additionally recorded Cajun material under the name Louisiana Pete and Polish pieces as Polski Kwartet.
Bluebird discontinued interest in regional and ethnic recordings in 1940, after which Martinez joined the San Benito, Texas, label IDEAL and maintained a steady output throughout the 1950s. Earnings from music alone proved inadequate for his household, compelling him to take assorted employment. In the mid-1950s he labored weekdays as an agricultural worker and confined performances to weekends. He relocated to Florida for tomato harvesting, stayed there until 1968, then moved briefly to Ohio before returning to Texas and cutting sides for McAllen's ORO imprint.
In 1973 Martinez accepted a caretaker post at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville and remained until retiring in 1977, though he never ceased performing. Mid-decade he appeared in the documentary Chulas Fronteras made by filmmaker Les Blank and Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz. Washington, D.C.'s National Endowment for the Arts awarded him a National Heritage Fellowship in 1983. Six months after completing his last album, 16 Exitos De Narciso Martinez, he succumbed to leukemia on 5 June 1992. His induction into the Conjunto Hall of Fame had occurred in 1982.
Martinez entered the world in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, the modest Mexican community directly opposite McAllen, Texas; as a child he crossed into the United States and grew up in La Palma near Brownsville in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Emulating his older brother, an accordionist, he took up the instrument himself by his mid-teens. Beyond the orquestra tipicas that blended violins, flutes, bass, and guitar, he drew from the styles of Jose "La Bamba" Rodriguez, Lolo Cavazos, Francisco Gutierrez, and Alejandro Aguire. Self-taught, Martinez abandoned the conventional German technique and cultivated a personal approach centered on the treble register; having begun on a two-row model, he adopted a three-row instrument by the late 1940s.
His proficiency had advanced sufficiently by 1928 to prompt thoughts of a professional livelihood. He spent time in Bishop, Texas, near Corpus Christi, absorbing the Bohemian, Czechoslovakian, and German repertoires performed by local immigrants. After marrying in 1931 he returned to La Paloma. From those early years through 1950 he collaborated regularly with bajo sexto player Santiago Alemeida, born in Skidmore, Texas. Their partnership amassed an extensive catalog encompassing polkas, redovas, schottishes, waltzes, mazurkas, boleros, danzones, and huapangos. On 21 October 1936, during his debut Bluebird session for RCA, Martinez scored a hit with "La Chicharronera"; the same date produced 20 titles for which he received $150. For Bluebird's Louisiana Cajun and Polish catalogs he additionally recorded Cajun material under the name Louisiana Pete and Polish pieces as Polski Kwartet.
Bluebird discontinued interest in regional and ethnic recordings in 1940, after which Martinez joined the San Benito, Texas, label IDEAL and maintained a steady output throughout the 1950s. Earnings from music alone proved inadequate for his household, compelling him to take assorted employment. In the mid-1950s he labored weekdays as an agricultural worker and confined performances to weekends. He relocated to Florida for tomato harvesting, stayed there until 1968, then moved briefly to Ohio before returning to Texas and cutting sides for McAllen's ORO imprint.
In 1973 Martinez accepted a caretaker post at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville and remained until retiring in 1977, though he never ceased performing. Mid-decade he appeared in the documentary Chulas Fronteras made by filmmaker Les Blank and Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz. Washington, D.C.'s National Endowment for the Arts awarded him a National Heritage Fellowship in 1983. Six months after completing his last album, 16 Exitos De Narciso Martinez, he succumbed to leukemia on 5 June 1992. His induction into the Conjunto Hall of Fame had occurred in 1982.
Albums
