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about musica fresca festival

MUSICA FRESCA is the next step in musical evolution. The tour represents the many and diverse facets of Latin music emerging across the planet. A term with a wide range of meaning, "Latin" can represent any of the 22 predominantly Spanish-speaking countries in the world, as well as the hundreds of musical forms that have grown out of them. With a rich history of influences, most notably Africa, Portugal, Germany and the United States, as well as homegrown indigenous forms, the countries that denote the term are as varied as the sounds being made. MUSICA FRESCA represents an important slice of future Latin music being created today.

The first annual MUSICA FRESCA tour focuses on four fusions in themselves. Yerba Buena takes advantage of the rich history of Cuba's Diaspora, one informed with a long history of African cross-pollination; in fact, the Cuban son is possibly the most ubiquitous and widespread Latin genre around. Awkid pulls from their ancestral banda , norteno and conjunto styles, each one with considerable fusions as well. Taking an array of instruments, such as the brass band marching music of Spanish conquerors and German-infested accordion polka, Mexico's sonic lineage is widespread indeed. Add in their love of homegrown Los Angeles hip-hop and you have the Gomez brothers' poignant sound.

Voltio is a fusion of many different colors. Reggaeton itself, born of New York rap, Jamaican dancehall and Latin synth-pop from the '80s Miami Sound Machine era, is only the foundation of what the Puerto Rican vocalist does. Add in Cuba's mambo and salsa and the Domincan Republic's merengue, with a snippet of Puerto Rican R&B/pop (via his collaboration with crooner Jerry Rivera), and Voltio is literally indefinable. Taking Puerto Rico's bomba and plena traditions, especially the high-pitched guitar-like cuatro of vocalist Jean Shepherd, along with a bit of Carlos Santana soul, and you have Radio Mundial. Indeed, even Santana agrees - he reworked the band's hit "La Raiz" into his own "El Fuego" on All That I Am .

These four bands, along with the Yahoo! Telemundo Battle of the Bands prior to each show, ensures that MUSICA FRESCA is the first of its kind. This is the first ever national Latin-oriented contest, showcasing the hottest regional acts in Rock en Espanol, Reggaeton, Latin Rock, Hip-Hop and any other genres. Before each show two area performers will get the opportunity to perform, and the following day a special podcast will be put on this site focusing on their concert. Never before has such a rich slice of Latin music been presented on one stage on national tour. With confirmed dates at Miami's La Covacha on Sept 16, Houston's Planeta Bar-Rio on Sept 22 and McAllen Texas' Graham Central Station on Sept 24, as well as stops scheduled for Los Angeles, San Diego, New Haven, New York, Washington D.C. and more, the entire country is about to witness something yet to be seen: the future of Latin music fusion, today.