Grupo Fantasma with Chico Trujillo
The progressive genius of Grupo Fantasma, now in the tenth year of its long and intriguing musical journey, comes to life on El Existential, set for a May 11th, 2010 release on Nat Geo Music. Known as the funkiest, finest, and hardest working Latin orchestra to come out of the United States in the last decade, the band has garnered critical acclaim worldwide for their adventurous albums, prudent songwriting and unprecedented live shows. “Grupo Fantasma is as tight as one would expect from a band that routinely backs up Prince” exclaimed LA Weekly and the Washington Post affirmed that “the ten members represent a new generation of latin music.” Their last effort, the Grammy nominated Sonidos Gold (2008), further trademarked the ensemble’s innovative sound and scored a cover feature in Pollstar Magazine, radio spots on NPR’s “Day to Day” and PRI’s “The World”, top ten status for several months on the CMJ radio charts and extensive press coverage throughout North America and Europe.
“We’ve been around through two so-called ‘cumbia revivals’ and a renewed DJ interest in the music of Fania Records” notes guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada. “On El Existential we feel like we have moved past any retro or novelty tags to explore even more timeless musical and lyrical themes, and multiple members of the band stepped up to contribute to the writing process. It’s clearly our strongest lyrical effort to date with concepts based around the album’s title in addition to tales of betrayal and deceit, surreal dreams, growing older and wiser, and of course women and relationships.” Without sounding too pretentious Quesada states: “There was a lot of pressure to deliver after the success, critical acclaim and Grammy nomination of our last album, but I feel as if we have overcome any expectations and made our best record yet.”
The band’s incendiary live show has stockpiled rave reviews across North American, Europe, and beyond. After catching Fantasma at the 3rd annual Fun Fun Fun Fest in their hometown of Austin, Texas, Dead Milkmen frontman Rodney Anonymous noted on his blog that "You haven't lived until you've seen these guys come out of a Tex-Mex drum solo into Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick.” Highlights from the past few years include the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, Jelly NYC Pool Party, Montreal Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the horn section performing with Prince at Coachella, London’s 02 Arena and the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and a two ten day engagements to entertain troops stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. Grupo Fantasma was also selected to perform at WOMEX, the exclusive world music expo, in Copenhagen, Denmark this past October. 2010 will have the band once again criss-crossing the globe with club dates and festivals worldwide.
"A floor-burning 12-track collection of hip-shakers and provocative grooves." -San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Real Musicians playing real music.” -Prince
"The grassroots success of Grupo Fantasma marks them as one of the decade's most important independent artists in the Latin genre." - All Music Guide
"This freight train of a Latin band could easily hold its own in a sweaty bandbox in the Bronx...they'll knock you down with the grooves." -The Village Voice
"One of the all-time great Texas bands...Their catchy sounds straddle so many musical genres that putting them in a particular niche seems pointless." -Pop Culture Press
"One of the sickest live bands ever." -Philadelphia Weekly
Opening tonight will be Chico Trujillo, Chile's most prominent Cumbia band. They are the soundtrack to every party from Santiago to Valparaiso. They can fill stadiums, have played with legends Los Tres and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Their mixture of classic cumbia and hints of rock and ska has assured them audiences from every generation and every walk of life.
Chico Trujillo started as an offshoot of punk/Ska band LaFloripondio in 1999. Ten years and four albums later, the offshoot has come to symbolize a uniquely Chilean cocktail. One that is rooted in the cumbias of the pre-Pinochet days and manages to incorporate every aspect of Chile's popular culture. They have meshed bits and pieces of Chile's fragemented past with the global influence of alternative culture and merged it all under the pan-latin banner of Cumbia.
Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), Cedar outlets, and online at Ticketweb.
STANDING ROOM ONLY
The progressive genius of Grupo Fantasma, now in the tenth year of its long and intriguing musical journey, comes to life on El Existential, set for a May 11th, 2010 release on Nat Geo Music. Known as the funkiest, finest, and hardest working Latin...
The superheroes of cumbia have a name. And that name is Chico Trujillo. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the band is at the peak of its powers. They play parties. They play stadiums. They play festivals. They play all over the world. And they can’t be...
Major Funders
This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota.
