Father of Conjunto, Narciso Martínez was born in Reynosa, Mexico in 1911.  Shortly after his birth, his family moved across the Rio Grande to the town of La Paloma near Brownsville.  Martínez took up the accordion only at the age of 17 when he moved to Bishop and was influenced by the local Czech and German musicians. Martinez incorporated the accordion into Mexican music and along with his partner, bajo sexto player Santiago Almeida, established the accordion and bajo sexto as the basic instruments of Conjunto music.  Martínez made his first recording in 1936 on the Bluebird Records label.  In 1946 he switched to the Ideal label.   Known as “El Huracán del Valle”  because of his rapid keywork, Martinez played throughout the 1950s.  His career declined after a new wave Conjunto artists established themselves in the 1960s.  He had later success, however, after being  featured in a 1976 documentary about Tex-Mex music Chulas Fronteras.  He was inducted into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame in 1982 and received a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1983.