http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Latin_Summary.html Latin Music refers to Latin America Music which encloses many and diverse countries as well as varieties. For this reason, it can be grouped in different categories or musical areas: Andean, Central American, Caribbean and Popular music. Latin Music has absorbed influences from Spanish, English, American (United States) and African music; this has made it even more diverse. Tango, Milonga, Latin Jazz, Tropicalismo, Cueca, Salsa, Nueva Trova, Mambo, Cumbia, Merengue, Bachata, Mariachi, Reggaeton and Tex-Mex are just a few examples of the great richness this genre includes. en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_10863.html Fri, 05 May 2006 12:31:20 CST
Albita Rodriguez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1962. Albita grew up among musicians; her parents being well-known singers from the Cuban countryside (singing punto and guajiro) guaranteed her early exposure to music. Her early childhood toys included bongos and claves. Since her teen years, she began her professional career by performing in nightclubs and local concerts. She made her television debut on Cuba's variety show, Palmas y Canas.

In 1988, Albita released her debut album in Cuba, called Habra Musica Guajira (There will be guajira music), on the Egrem record label. Albita has been identified with Cuban son (an Afro-Cuban musical form). Albita inspired herself from personal experiences as well as from what was happening in Cuba at that time. The title song of that album talks about her mission to create music that was authentic Cuban music. Another hit of the album, “Son de Tahurete”, is about the time when Cuba fought for its independence from Spain.

In 1992, she traveled to Colombia and after some time she went to Mexico. In 1993, she traveled to the United States and made her residence in Miami. Albita spent some time performing in the restaurant Centro Vasco, where her work was appreciated by several figures of the entertainment such as Madonna and Gloria Estefan. In 1994, she released her first single in the U.S, "Que manera de quererte" (What a way of loving you), after being signed by Emilio Estefan’s Crescent Moon label. In 1995 Albita released her first US album titled No Se Parce a Nada (Unlike Anything Else). The album Dien Que followed, it featured a combination of traditional Cuban styles, as well as Baroque and African styles. Her career in the U.S. proved successful, producing albums like 2000’s Son, Hecho a Mano (Hand Made) in 2002 and Albita llego (Albita is here) in 2004. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_10862.html Fri, 05 May 2006 12:29:14 CST
Altagracia Ugalde Mota, best known by her artist name Ana Bárbara, was born in San Luis Potosí, on January 10, 1971. Since early age, she showed great interest for music. Her sister Viviana Ugalde was a teenaged singer of some notoriety across San Luis Potosi and Ana Bárbara loved to accompany her to her shows and gigs. At the age of eight, Ana Bárbara fell in love with the stage while she sang backup for her sister. Ana Bárbara participated in a children singing contest and ended up taking over the first place. She was able to become a beauty queen and was able to represent her native state as “Miss San Luis Potosi” in Miss Mexico beauty contest (however, she didn’t became Miss Mexico). After the contest she realized she wanted to sing professionally and flew to Mexico City. In 1993, Ana Bárbara was named Ranchera Ambassador, also getting her first Heraldo Award. She was able to go to see the Pope John Paul the II. Ana Bárbara interrupted the whole mass and sang for the Pope.

In 1994, Ana Bárbara signed with Fonovisa (Televisa’s musical company). She released her self-titled debut album Ana Bárbara produced by Anibal Pastor. It soon climbed the local charts with songs like “Nada” and “Sacudeme”. It was until 1995, after Selena’s death, that she started to get international fame. A song named “Selena” was added to her CD prior to its American release. That same year she released her album La Trampa. Her third album titled Ay, Amor (1996) included two number one hits “Ya No Te Creo Nada” and “No Llorare”.

In 1998, Ana Bárbara made public her album Los Besos No Se Dan En La Camisa. While promoting this album she was awarded as Queen of La Calle Ocho. Its song “Como Me Haces Falta” remained in number one for 18 weeks. Her album Tu Decision was released in 1999. This album brought Ana Bárbara many nominations including Favorite Female by Premios Heraldo, and a Grammy Award nomination for the first ever Latin Grammy awards. After taking some time off, she returned in 2001 with one of her most popular albums, Te Regalo la Lluvia. Ana Bárbara reaffirmed her position of “Reina Grupera” with her release of “The Atraparé…Bandido” in 2003. On November 3 of 2005, Ana Bárbara was awarded a Latin Grammy Award. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7295.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:53:33 CST
“Kumbia Kings” is the name that a very successful Latin pop band from Texas receives.  They are really well-known due to the wide range of Cumbia styles they include in their songs in conjunction with the Randamp;B style.  The Kumbia Kings produce songs in both English and Spanish, and it is precisely here where a great part of their success lies since they are able to satisfy the Latin population living in the United States.  The producer of the band is the very well-known A.B. Quintanilla, which is also known for being Selena’s brother.  Nevertheless, he plays the bass guitar and acts as a songwriter too.  The band is made up of seven members.  Thus, Nando, Pangie, Pee Wee and Abel Talamantez are the vocalists, Cruz “CK” Martínez is the producer and the keyboardist, Chris Perez plays the lead guitar and Sexy Nino B is a rapper and dancer.

Kumbia King’s debut was carried out in 1999, and since that moment, they have produced 7 albums.  Their fist album, which was called Amor, Familia y Respeto, was very successful; they sold more than 500,000 copies.  In addition, with this album, Kumbia Kings was nominated for the Grammy’s, and some time after, they received a nomination at the 2003 American Music Awards for the “Latin Artist of the Year.”  SHHH! (2001), All Mixed Up: Los Remixes (2002) and 4 (2003) are included among the rest of the albums that they released during these years.  With Fuego, which is their 8th studio album produced in the 2004, they got to sell more than half a million copies.

Last year, Kumbia Kings released a wonderful album called Duetos, and now, they are already working on what is going to be their next album.  In spite of the fact that today’s Kumbia Kings is not even similar to the one originated around 8 years ago in Corpus Christi, A.B. Quintanilla is planning to reunite former members.  Nonetheless, no matter what happens, their fans are sure that Kumbia Kings will always be part of the great Latin music and the greatest bands in America. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7290.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 02:24:06 CST
Juanes, whose real name is Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vázquez, was born on August 9, 1972.  Juanes, who is one of the most famed Latin American singers, songwriters, and guitarists these days, was born in Medellín, Colombia.  His pen name comes from the fact that, when he was much younger, his father did not call him Juan or Juan Esteban, but “Juanes”, kind of doing a combination of the two names.  For this reason, everybody got to know him as Juanes, and later on, he decided to enter the music world with the same name.

In spite of the fact that Juanes is a young man, he relies on a very great artistic career.  Ekhymosis was the name that his first Spanish rock album received.  With the song called “Fijate Bien”, he was able to get three Latin Grammys in 2000 for Best Rock Song, Best Rock Solo Vocal Album and Best New Artist.  “Un Día Normal”, his follow-up production by the great Gustavo Santaolalla in 2002, was more than successful in Latin America too.  “Un Día Normal” went Platinum and, with it, Juanes was able to win five different awards such as Album of the Year and Song of the Year.  His most recent album, which is called My Sangre, released in 2004, was #1 on the Latin Billboard charts.

As if nine remarkable awards were not enough for Juanes, he won three more in the 2005 Latin Grammys for Best Music Video for the single “Volverte a Ver”, Best Rock Solo Album for Mi Sangre and Best Rock Song for “Nada Valgo sin tu Amor.”  In addition, Time Magazine named Juanes as one of the world’s 100 most influential people, and the Adopt-A-Mainfield honored the Colombian artist for working as a Goodwill Ambassador for United for Colombia, which is a non-profit organization.  Besides, Juanes was in charge of the top musical performance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany on December 9, 2005.  There, he played one of his most popular songs called “La Camisa Negra.”  Therefore, Juanes is not only a great Colombian musician, but a worldwide well-known figure, proud of Latin America. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7275.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 10:42:23 CST
Who has not heard about such a magnificent star called Daddy Yankee?  Today, he is, without a doubt, the greatest icon of the Puerto Rican reggaeton since everything he has achieved has not been achieved by any other reggaeton artist.  For instance, Daddy Yankee constitutes the first reggaeton singer in staging an international arena tour and receiving a platinum status.  Daddy Yankee, whose real name is Raymond Ayala, is a very energetic person who expands his fan base every single day.  In 2004, he released his first album called Barrio Fino, which allowed him to get to be a worldwide known artist.

When he was a teenager, Daddy Yankee dreamed to play in the baseball Major Leagues; however, when he was 16, he was hit by a bullet in one of his legs.  For this reason, he decided to devote to music.  Thus, dubbed “the king of improvisation”, Daddy Yankee released four independent albums called El Cartel de Yankee, El Cangri.com, El Cartel de Yankee 2 and Los Homerunes, from which El Cangri.com was the most successful one in Puerto Rico.  Nevertheless, nobody imagined what was about to happen in 2004: Daddy Yankee revolutionized the reggaeton industry with his worldwide-listened singles “Gasolina”, “Lo Que Paso Paso” and “Oye Mi Canto.”

In 2005, Yankee, being the first reggaeton artist in being nominated for an MTV Video Music Award with “Gasolina”, he performed in great arenas in cities like Miami, New York, Colombia, Ecuador, Los Angeles and Chicago.  In addition, in April of that same year, Daddy Yankee was given the “Reggaeton Album of the Year” prize, conferred by the Latin Billboard Awards.  Likewise, five months later, he broke the record of winning the biggest amount of prizes at Premios Juventud receiving 7 of them.  Moreover, in November, for “Best Urban Music Album”, he was given a Latin Grammy.

Furthermore, with his live album named Barrio Fino en Directo, he sold more than one million copies, and amazingly, only in the United States.  This album, which, after 15 weeks of being released, was certified platinum, comprises songs that have been #1, including “Rompe”, and the follow-up called “Machucando.”  It is amazing how both of these songs debuted in what is called the top five of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.  Thus, what Daddy Yankee’s fans can only do is to continue enjoying his unique music and style that will provide him with more and more success.   
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7258.html Thu, 06 Apr 2006 04:13:17 CST
Jose Jose, whose real name is José Romulo Sosa Ortiz, is best known as The Prince.  Jose Jose is an incredibly famed actor and singer who was born on February 17th, 1948 in Mexico.  His talent was inheritance of his parents since his father was a gospel singer and his mother sang opera.  Due to the fact that Jose Jose’s parents were not really successful in what they did, they tried to discourage their son claiming that it was too difficult to make a living out of singing.  Nevertheless, he refused to abandon his dream of becoming a famous artist and kept working hard to achieve his goal.

It is amazing how when he was in his teens, he already had his own career as a singer.  Although, at the beginning, he just wanted to be a singer, he soon got to appear in different TV shows and his fame began increasing in the 60’s.  One decade later, he had achieved fame to a point that he was then considered to be the most well-known ballladist in Latin America.  He even competed with worldwide known great artists such as Nino Bravo, Julio Iglesias, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Alberto Cortes, Danny Rivera and Camilo Sesto.  During those times, Jose Jose toured many times throughout Latin America in order to promote his #1 hits.  Actually, he has released over 30 albums, worked in two films and appeared in one soap opera so far.

His most successful singles include “Por Ella”, in which he sings in conjunction with Jose Feliciano.  Also, another very well-known Jose Jose’s song is “Cuarenta y Veinte.”  Even though he was having a stunning success, he found himself fighting against alcohol.  During the 90’s, his health began weakening because of alcoholism.  In fact, once, he fell down during a performance since he had been drinking before starting.  For that matter, he had to undergo a surgery, and due to this, he cannot sing as well as he did before.  However, he will always be the idol of the idols in Latin America no matter what. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7245.html Thu, 06 Apr 2006 11:36:27 CST
Jose Alfredo Jiménez was born to a poor but small, beautiful and united family in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico.  As a little child, Jose Alfredo Jimenez always revealed his passion for music, especially for singing.  It is impressive how Jimenez with only nine years was already writing songs that his friends loved to sing and learn from memory.  In spite of the fact that his parents wanted and encouraged him to become a doctor, he was not interested in school at all.  Nonetheless, their parents finally realized that all his potential was music-oriented and that he had everything necessary in order to get to be what he is today: a magnificent idol.

However, this does not mean it was easy for him to get into the music world.  It was not until 1950 that he recorded the single called “Yo” with the band Conjunto Los Costeños. After that, “Ella”, which got to be a well-liked song, came to be #1 not only in Mexico, but also in the United States.  Thirdly, the song “El Jinete”, which he wrote when he was 11 years old, was released.  Among his most successful singles, we can find “Cuatro Caminos”, “El Cobarde”, Sucedio en la Barranca” and “Que Suerte la Mia” and several others.

Moreover, Jose Alfredo Jimenez got even more popularity through cinema.  His music was popularized throughout the interpretations of great legends, including Pedro Infante and Pedro Vargas.  Besides, his songs allowed other artists to get very popular.  Among these artists, Lola Beltran, Amalia Mendoza and Lucha Villa are outstanding.  Other stars such as Pual Anka, Raphael, Vikki Carr and Camilo Sesto have made their own interpretations of Jose Alfredo Jimenez’s songs.  In this way, he got to be a worldwide famous singer that will be forever proud of Latin America. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7244.html Thu, 06 Apr 2006 11:35:09 CST
Johnny Pacheco, which is possibly the most important icon and the most dominant figure when talking about Salsa, was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.  Johnny Pacheco is an amazing artist who has had a more-than-successful career as a bandleader, musician and producer.  His passion for music is inherited from his father Rafael Azarias Pacheco.  Being a child, Johnny and his family moved to New York City.  His new label, which was named Fania in 1963, date when he created it, was focused on his musical experimentation.   He is very well-known due to the great rhythm combinations he made, including Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Latin music styles.  All this together is what, later on, came to be known as Salsa, and since he was a pioneer, he has got to be the most solicited producer within the Latin music field.

In addition to being an out-of-this-world musician by himself, he has worked with other famed artists such as Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, La Lupe, Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano and Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez among others.  In fact, Mecano’s song called “Bailando Salsa”, included in an album that sold five thousand copies a month after it was released, was produced by Johnny Pacheco too.  Besides, three songs in the first album of David Byrne were produced and co-written by him.

Johhny Pacheco has been, since his beginnings, very interested in not only Latin music, but also Latin culture and community.  Thus, he has participated in several charitable concerts, encompassing the Concierto por la Vida, an AIDS benefit concert in 1988 in the New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall.  Recently, Johnny Pacheco released his new production called Entre Amigos, which is of course, another high-quality production as always.  Hence, Johnny Pacheco is and will always be one of the most significant figures in the Latin music and salsa industry. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7231.html Thu, 06 Apr 2006 08:30:26 CST
The Grupo Montez de Durango (Montez de Durango’s Band) was, and continues being, the ones giving life to the “Música Duranguense” style.  Obviously, as it name implies, they all come from Durango, Mexico.  The band was established as so six years ago.  During this time, they have enjoyed how having a really successful career tastes since they have broken many records in sales and assistance.  Jose Luis Terrazas is the leader of the Grupo Montez de Durango.  Today, the group is made up of Jose Luis Terrazas, Alfredo Ramírez, Daniel Terrazas, Ismael Mijares and Francisco Lopez.

The Grupo Montez de Durango began playing on private parties on weekends and in night clubs in Chicago.  They recorded their first albums, which are called Rama Seca and Tu Mirada, under the name of another company.  However, in search of fulfilling their own expectations, José Luis Terrazas, the leader of the group, created his own record company, today named Terrazas Records.  This company was the one in charge of releasing their 4 further albums.  These are La Ausencia, Con Sabor a Tamborazo and En Vivo.  Later on, the band signed a contract with DISA in order to release their last album: Sube y Baja.

Just a few months of releasing their last album called Sube y Baja, it already went Platinum in the United States.  Included in this album, there are some singles that have been extremely successful in many places and become considered treasures of the band.  Among them, we can find “Sube y Baja”, “Las Mismas Piedras” and “Hoy Empieza Mi Tristeza.”  Moreover, they are also considered to be the ones creating the new kind of dance for the “estilo duranguense” (duranguense style), which is called “el pasito duranguense.” This is a sort of dance that combines two very Latin dances: the “quebradita” and merengue. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7227.html Wed, 05 Apr 2006 05:06:13 CST
Graciela Beltran is a Mexican singer that was born in Costa Rica, Sinaloa.  Her artistic career started when she was six years old.  At that age, she performed for the first times in Los Angeles, California being very well-liked by the audience.  She and her mother moved to the U.S. since her mother was looking for a better life for them.  Thus, she continued singing until a day in which the EMI Latin contacted her once she had some albums already recorded.  With EMI Latin, she recorded her album called Baraja de Oro, which went Gold, firstly, and then, Platinum.

After her first album and before 1995, Revelación Ranchero, Graciela Beltrán released 10 different albums. 1995 is considered to be Graciela Beltran’s year since she released an extremely successful album called Tesoro.  With it, she could triple her sales not only in Mexico, but also in the United States.  This album Tesoro went double Platinum.

Graciela Beltran has appeared in five different movies and released 17 recorded albums.  Besides, she has made duets with very famed artists, including Ednita Nazario and Emilio Navaira, when doing the album for the 1996 Olympic Games.  However, their success is not likely to stop soon.  These days, Graciela Beltran is pioneering the banda rhythm by including some electrical instruments such as guitars, a keyboard, bass, percussion and an accordion in conjunction with wind instruments.  Thus, her fans still have plenty of such a great and multifaceted artist called Gabriela Beltran.