Grupo Fantasma

Last updated
Grupo Fantasma
Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater August 2019 24 (Grupo Fantasma).jpg
Grupo Fantasma performing at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater
Background information
Origin2000
Website www.grupofantasma.com

Grupo Fantasma is a nine-piece Latin funk orchestra from Austin, Texas.

Contents

Biography

Formed in 2000 from the merger of two Austin acts, The Blimp and The Blue Noise Band, [1] the band emerged with a biweekly gig at the Empanada Parlour in Austin in 2001. [2] The band is best known for their exuberant live shows, innovative contemporary recordings and associations with Prince and his 3121 Club in Las Vegas. The band backed Prince on numerous occasions, including his performance on the ALMA Awards in 2007, and often performed at his after-party jam sessions. The band has performed with a diverse array of artists including Maceo Parker, Sheila E, GZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Spoon, Daniel Johnston, and many others. The ensemble has sold more than 20,000 albums independently and has had music featured in many popular television series.

Grupo Fantasma twice played the Austin City Limits Music Festival and taped an episode of the Austin City Limits television series on PBS, which first aired November 17, 2007. They have also performed at such festivals as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, Wakarusa, WOMAD, North Sea Jazz Festival and the Calgary Folk Music Festival as well as having headlined numerous SXSW showcases in their career. The band performs frequently, regularly doing over 150 performances a year. Their horn section has also made various appearances on worldwide releases and has performed with indie rock band Spoon. Grupo Fantasma's music has been featured in the NYC public-access television cable TV show The Unbelievable Show from 2001 to 2004. The band has garnered over a dozen Austin Music Awards, and an induction into the Austin Music Hall of Fame.

The group's album Sonidos Gold was nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album for the 51st Grammy Awards. Grupo's album El Existential was awarded the Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards two years later. [3]

On March 29, 2019, Grupo Fantasma released their seventh full-length album, American Music Vol. VII, on Blue Corn Music. The album, with its unique multi-ethnic sound, takes on the intricacies of identity. Even the title itself examines issues of identity and the concept of the "other". In a review, NPR described American Music Vol. VII as "a perfectly executed bi-cultural statement, made for the millions of folks who love mariachi as much as James Brown". [4]

Grupo Fantasma’s songs “Chocolate”, “Barretta” and “Perso Fra/Mesquites” were featured in Showtime’s Weeds season 6 premiere episode, which debuted on August 16, 2010, and their cover of the Chicago song "Saturday in the Park" (Sabado en el Parque) was featured on the TV show Breaking Bad .

Discography

The band has also been featured on various other albums:

Band

Current members

Former members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ozomatli</span> American band

Ozomatli is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and incorporating a wide array of musical styles – including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop, and others. The group formed in 1995 and has since released seven studio albums. The group is also known for advocating for farm-workers' rights and immigration reform. The band has performed in various countries all over the world, including China, Tunisia, Jordan, Cuba, and Burma. Although the band has had many member changes over the years and has sometimes had as many as ten members, the current six members have been in the band since its debut album.

Banda is a subgenre of regional Mexican music and type of ensemble in which wind and percussion instruments are performed.

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz orchestra led by Gordon Goodwin that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as funk and jazz fusion. Since its origin, the Big Phat Band has received several Grammy Awards and many Grammy nominations.

Caribbean Jazz Project was a Latin jazz band founded in 1993. The original group featured Dave Samuels, Paquito D'Rivera, and Andy Narell. After their second album, D'Rivera and Narell left the group, although both returned as guest stars. Under Samuels' leadership, the group explored different genres of latin jazz with a changing membership and numerous guest artists. The band released nine albums under the Caribbean Jazz Project name and one as the featured backing band for jazz singer Diane Schuur. The final album with Samuels, Afro Bop Alliance, featured the Maryland-based Afro Bop Alliance Big Band led by drummer Joe McCarthy and won the 2008 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. McCarthy's latin jazz big band continues to record under its own name, and Samuels retains the group's name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunny Jain</span> American drummer

Sunny Jain is an Indian American dhol player, drummer, and Indo jazz composer. He is recognized as a leading voice in the burgeoning movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians. His albums have received international acclaim for their "groundbreaking synthesis", as he brings together the ancient sounds of his cultural heritage, jazz and a host of other sounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roomful of Blues</span> American jump blues and swing revival big band

Roomful of Blues is an American jump blues and swing revival big band based in Rhode Island. With a recording career that spans over 50 years, they have toured worldwide and recorded many albums. Roomful of Blues, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, "Swagger, sway and swing with energy and precision". Since 1967, the group’s blend of swing, rock and roll, jump blues, boogie-woogie and soul has earned it five Grammy Award nominations and many other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. Billboard called the band "a tour de force of horn-fried blues…Roomful is so tight and so right." The Down Beat International Critics Poll has twice selected Roomful of Blues as Best Blues Band.

<i>One Kind Favor</i> 2008 studio album by B.B. King

One Kind Favor is B.B. King's forty-second and final studio album. Produced by T Bone Burnett, it was released on August 26, 2008, by Geffen Records.

<i>Act Your Age</i> (Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band album) 2008 studio album by Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band

Act Your Age is the fourth album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. It received a Grammy Award nomination in 2008 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Gordon Goodwin received nominations for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement ("Yesterdays").

<i>El Existential</i> 2010 studio album by Grupo Fantasma

El Existential is a studio album by the American band Grupo Fantasma, released in 2010 through the record label Nat Geo Music. In 2011, the album earned the band the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album.

Aunt Ruby's Sweet Jazz Babies is an Austin, Texas-based traditional jazz band. Their primary focus is performing music widely popular from the 1910s -1940's era. They perform in a style that has been described as a combination of the jazz stylings of Eddie Condon, Jack Teagarden, Edmond Hall, Thomas "Fats" Waller and the Hoosier Hotshots. They are recognized by the State of Texas Governor's Music Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Child (band)</span>

Wild Child is an American indie pop band from Austin, Texas formed in 2010. The band consists of Kelsey Wilson, Alexander Beggins, Sadie Wolfe (cello), Tyler Osmond (bass), Matt Bradshaw, Cody Ackors, and Tom Myers (drums).

Pacific Mambo Orchestra is a Latin dance music orchestra based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

<i>Big Boss Band</i> 1990 studio album by George Benson

Big Boss Band is the 1990 studio album of American musician George Benson on Warner Bros. featuring the Count Basie Orchestra. This is Benson's second consecutive album which returns to his jazz roots after his successful pop career in the 1980s, and also his debut as sole producer of an album. The genre is mainly big band swing with some Michel Legrand and R&B thrown in.

The Christian McBride Big Band is a 17-piece big band whose debut album The Good Feeling received the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monsieur Periné</span> Colombian musical ensemble

Monsieur Periné is a Bogotá-based musical ensemble from Colombia with an Afro-Colombian sound that mixes Latin and European flavors. Lead singer Catalina Algafloja sings in a mixture of Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese. Other members include Santiago Prieto, who plays the charango, violin, and guitar; Eva Peroni on the bass; Jairo Alfonso on the winds ; Abstin Caviedes on the trombone and bugle; Miguel Guerra on percussion; and Darwin Paez on the drumset. Their style mixes elements of cumbia, tango, danzón, bolero and pop music, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. At the Latin Grammy Awards, the ensemble was named best new artist of 2015. Their debut album in 2012 won Colombia's national gold album award. The group was formed in 2008.

Roberto Delgado & Orquesta is a Panamanian salsa orchestra based in Panama City. The band leader is Roberto Delgado. The band has released five studio albums and since the release of the album La Rosa de los Vientos (1996) by singer-songwriter Rubén Blades, the ensemble became his backing band for most of his projects. Following albums included Son de Panamá (2015), which was awarded the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album and the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album, and Salsa Big Band (2017), which was awarded the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album and Album of the Year, and the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album.

Brownout is an American Latin-funk band from Austin, Texas. The band was originally formed as a side project of the members of the Grammy-award-winning band Grupo Fantasma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Pumas</span> American psychedelic soul band

Black Pumas is an American psychedelic soul band based in Austin, Texas, led by singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada. The group received its first Grammy Award nomination in 2020 for Best New Artist.

LPT is a 10-piece orchestra, including a four-person horn section, a three-piece percussion section, bass, keyboards, and lead vocals, that delivers salsa dura and Afro-Cuban music that has been likened to such bands as Grupo Fantasma and Bio Ritmo. LPT is known for its high-energy live performances throughout the Southeastern United States. The group has performed at festivals such as the 2019 Savannah Jazz Festival, Hulaween, and Suwannee Rising. They have done live recordings as part of Live from the Studio at NFS Ranch, as well as the Void: Office Music Series. They have opened for such performers as Santana and Trombone Shorty. LPT released a live album entitled El Fonquéte: Live on November 30, 2018, consisting of a mix of original songs, as well as some covers. "Llegamos", a single featuring two songs, was released on October 11, 2019, by Winterland Records. Their debut full-length album, Sin Parar, was released in January 2020. The album was subsequently nominated for two Independent Music Awards–Best Latin Album and Best Latin Song. It won Best Latin Album for 2020. Their video for one of the singles, Los Bravos, received a nomination for Best Music Video at the 2021 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. On July 31, 2020, the group released a single containing two songs from Sin Parar, one a remix created by DJ Papi Disco.

Adrian Quesada is an American musician, producer, and songwriter. He is best known for his work with Black Pumas. Quesada is an eight-time Grammy nominee and won Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album as a member of Grupo Fantasma in 2011.

References

  1. Fawcett, Thomas (June 13, 2008). "Salsa, Cumbia, Merengue, Everything". Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  2. Lomax, John Nova (December 27, 2001). "Grupo Fantasma". Houston Press. Archived from the original on Dec 1, 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  3. Contreras, Felix. "Grupo Fantasma Grabs A Grammy". Alt.Latino. NPR. Archived from the original on Feb 5, 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  4. Contreras, Felix. "Grupo Fantasma Masterfully Adapts Funk On Its Vision of 'America Music Vol. VII'". Alt.Latino. NPR. Archived from the original on Dec 2, 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2020.