H.R. No. 435
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Gilbert Velasquez of San Antonio has made
significant contributions to Texas music over the course of a
remarkable career spanning more than four decades; and
WHEREAS, Born in Seguin and raised in the Alamo City,
Mr. Velasquez began playing guitar in church and then in garage
bands; he joined Chicano soul band The Royal Jesters in 1974 and
went on to perform for military troops in Europe and the Far East as
a member of Tejano band SugarJammer; after a stint with the group
People, he embarked on a 25-year affiliation with the legendary
Latin Breed; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Velasquez also worked as a studio musician and
became involved in arranging and recording; in the early 1980s, he
was hired as a staff producer for Cara Records, and he recorded and
produced such seminal groups as Mazz, La Mafia, Selena y Los Dinos,
Bobby Naranjo y Direccion, and Charro Band; he produced the
landmark CD Breakin' the Rules for Latin Breed, as well as Tejanos
for Hunger, featuring almost every top Tejano artist of the day; and
WHEREAS, In 1995, he launched his own production house,
Velasquez Productions, and a music publishing company; he also
traveled to Mexico during the 1990s to produce and engineer
recordings for Universal Mexico, EMI Mexico, Balboa Records, and
Discos MCM, mostly in the norteño and grupero genres; his work
continued to gain recognition, and in 2004, he received the first of
five Grammy Awards in the Best Tejano Album category; in addition,
he has collected five Latin Grammys, nine Tejano Awards, three
Tejano Academy Awards, and a Tejano Entertainers and Musicians
Association Award; he was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall
of Fame in 2006, and at the 2007 National Tejano Music Convention,
he was presented with the Tex-Mex Gibson Special Achievement in
Music Producing Award; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Velasquez serves on the board of governors of
the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Recording Arts and
Sciences; in recent years, he has continued to record prominent
Tejano artists while branching into other genres and collaborating
with up-and-coming local artists; and
WHEREAS, Dubbed "one of Tejano music's chief architects" by
the San Antonio Express-News, Gilbert Velasquez has made a lasting
cultural impact, and his work has enriched the lives of innumerable
people in Texas and beyond; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby honor Gilbert Velasquez for
his achievements in the music industry and extend to him sincere
best wishes for continued success; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Mr. Velasquez as an expression of high regard by the
Texas House of Representatives.
Arévalo
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 435 was adopted by the House on August
15, 2017, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House