Grammy award-winning artist Gaby Moreno will peform at the Festival Chispa 2017 at 8 p.m., June 24. Courtesy Photo
Las Cafeterias will peform at the Festival Chispa 2017. Courtesy/lascafeteras.com
NHCC News:
ALBUQUERQUE – The National Hispanic Cultural Center, in partnership with Avokado Artists, presents Festival Chispa 2017.
The event features Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno and her band, along with the incredibly fresh, multi-faceted Latin alternative and Chicano activist group Las Cafeteras at 8 p.m. June 24 in the Albuquerque Journal Theatre.
The event promises to be a concert highlight of 2017 and a perfect musical kick-off to the summer season. Tickets are $27, and are available from the Center’s Box Office, at 505.24.4771 or www.nhccnm.org.
Born and raised in Guatemala, Moreno was captivated in her youth by the sounds of the blues, soul and jazz and now calls Los Angeles home. Mixing English and Spanish vocals in elegant harmonies, she was awarded the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2013.
Her albums include “Still the Unknown” (2008), “Illustrated Songs” (2011), “Postales” (2012), “Posada” (2014) and “Ilusión” (2016), nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album. She sings the theme song for Disney’s animated television series “Elena of Avalor’, and is featured on the soundtrack for the 2017 film, “How to Be a Latin Lover”, she crushes Blondie’s “Call Me” en español, starring Selma Hayek, Eugenio Derbez and Rob Lowe. Ilusión goes back to Moreno’s beginnings, capturing the pure spirit of an aspiring immigrant artist who made her way in a new country with just her guitar, her extraordinary voice, and the songs she was eager to share.
Las Cafeteras fuse the Afro-Caribbean roots and vibrant energy of traditional son jarocho with an edgy East Los Angeles alternative sound and a community-based message, creating a new urban folk sound in both English and Spanish. The product and reflection of a diverse, hard-working neighborhood, they use their music to tell stories about the streets where they were raised, the communities they live in today, and their dreams for the world they hope to see in the future.
Their eclectic instrumentation includes jarana, requinto, quijada (a donkey’s jawbone), marimbol (a West African bass instrument), cajón, tarima (the wooden platform traditionally used to dance zapateado), and Native American drum and flute.
Their second studio album, Tastes Like L.A., includes an updated version of their bilingual song “If I Was President”, blending Mexican folk traditions with hip hop flavors. This song serves as a perfect summation of what the band is about. It is accompanied by an interactive video encouraging the public to submit their own verses and audio stems allowing remixers to make their own versions, engaging people’s imaginations about the future of the country.
