Andrés Jiménez, "el Jíbaro"

Early life

Andrés Jiménez was born on July 3, 1947, in the barrio "The Cat" in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. He is the fourth of 15 children from Juan Jiménez y Felícita Hernández. His father, a tireless farmer, taught him to love the earth and the cultivated soil passionately. Early on, his mother stirred an interest in singing, particularly by taking him to ceremonies where folk music, like the "seis chorreao" and "aguinaldos," was interpreted.

Economic constraints led him – like with many other Puerto Ricans - to emigrate to New York City, where he was drafted into the army. Upon his return, he entered the University of Puerto Rico, and presented on stage for the first time as part of the Grupo Taoné, which had legendary musicians like Roy Brown, Antonio Caban Vale "El Topo," Noel Hernandez, Carlos Lozada, Pepe and Flora.

Local and international performances

Jiménez continued to perform with Taoné for several years, while developing a unique style that reaffirmed his commitment to Puerto Rico’s culture and Jibaro music. With Taoné, he traveled to the United States, and made presentations at the universities of Harvard, Yale and Princeton, as well as in many Puerto Rican migrant communities in New York, Chicago, Connecticut, Boston and Los Angeles.

In 1973, he participated in the Youth Festival in Germany. He represented Puerto Rico in the First Latin American Folk Song (Primer Cantar Folclórico de América Latina), held in Cuba. That same year, he toured different Mexican states, sponsored by the National Institute of Fine Arts. In October, along with his new band, he performed at the Festival in Tribute to the Troubadour (Festival Homenaje al Trovador), held in the Plaza Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela. In November, he received the “Meeting Award for ‘Lifetime Achievement’" (“Premio Encuentro por ‘Trayectoria Artística").

Zenith, politics and domestic conflicts

Andres Jimenez has been awarded the Agüeybaná Award twice for Best Performer of traditional folk music. He has also received awards like the Diplo, Chief Orocovix and has been recognized by various civic and cultural organizations, even by the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.

In 1992, his wife Alba Nidia Rivera, a psychologist, charged him with domestic violence.

In April 1997, he received the Farándula Award for his album "Los Santos Inocentes ", considered the best Puerto Rican 1996 Christmas album. It earned him the Gold Record Award for the sale of more than fifty thousand units.

A year later, he found himself at the center of labor movement. The song, “Los tecnócratas,” from his album "En la última trinchera," became the anthem of the Puerto Rican labor movement against the privatization of the Phone Company.

He has participated in special "We are one people" and "To the beat of a feeling" (Somos un solo pueblo" y "Al compás de un sentimiento), produced by the Banco Popular de Puerto RIco, and the concert "Light the star of peace" ("Enciende la estrella de la paz") in 1998 sponsored by the National Foundation for Popular Culture at the Plaza de Arms in Old San Juan.

In 1999, “el Jíbaro” found himself again at the vortex of another political movement. He had joined salsero Ismael Miranda to compose the album, “A Tune for Vieques” (son a Vieques), and had produced the CD "Puerto Rican roots," which features the “Singing Children” of “Jibaro Music” (música jíbara). Both works won awards and were used as rallying cries for the rights of the people of Vieques.

Recent times

In later productions, Jimenez has approached the religious theme in the “trova” with projects like “Jesus, the Son of God” based on the “décimas” of artist Luis G. Cajigas, which were inspired by verses from San Lucas, San Mateo and San Marcos. He has also continued with his nationalist leitmotif with albums like “So we are,” “Born in Borikén” and “Day of gallo pinto.”

Andres Jimenez has been the producer of the Festival Jibaro, which has hosted some of the most significant Puerto Rican artists.