Austinist Festival Alert: Xemumba '08 @ The Mohawk in September!

This contest is closed. Congratulations to Ryan and Molly, our first round of winners for this festival giveaway. Tune in for more chances to win in coming weeks!

Seu Jacinto – Based in Austin, TX, Seu Jacinto is a music group interested in developing and introducing traditional Northeastern Brazilian culture to Central Texas. Their work as a grassroots collective has been focused on the traditional regional music forms of Northeastern Brazil. Their involvement with Brazilian folklore offers an exploration into its history, which leads them to understand this colorful and diverse country. Seu Jacinto is formed by Gina LaMotte, Leonardo Primez, Lauren Rochell, Lula Marcondes, Mehdi Boudra, Rami El-Farrah, and Tommy Ward.

Monitango - It was as a teenager in Buenos Aires that Monica Caivano discovered her passion for tango. Already studying theatre, dance and mime, she wandered into a tango class— and has been immersed ever since. An accomplished leader and follower, Monica has spent years polishing her skills in the milongas of Buenos Aires. Monica began teaching tango in 1997, in Austin, Texas. Her love for the dance, the music and the culture of tango comes across in the enthusiasm and accessibility she offers her students. Above all, Monica seeks through her teaching to get people “out in the street” dancing socially. Her strengths lie in conveying both the technique and the passion of tango.

Piñata Protest - Piñata Protest is an accordion powered punk rock band from San Antonio TX. This four piece band brings together tex-mex,norteño, punk rock, ska, and beer into a delicious mix of songs that deal with everything from bar fights to the immigrant farm worker experience. Make sure to bring your dancing shoes and drinking sombrero.

Mariachi Revolución - Mariachi Revolución is a special performance, mariachi all-star group whose veteran musicians hail from all over Texas. Started by Jennifer Acosta in 2006, Revolución recently partnered with Gabriel Vasquez of Austin's Mariachi Garibay to take their sound and performance to the next level. Revolución is not your average mariachi band; they specialize in collaborations and cross-over performances. Today, Revolución continues to honor their traditional mariachi roots and revolutionize live mariachi music in Austin, Texas.

Los Bad Apples - Los Bad Apples plays a high-energy fusion of Hip Hop with Reggaeton, Cumbia, Flamenco, Samba & Salsa. Band members include the sweet songstress, Anita Benner, critically acclaimed MC Zeale who was a finalist in the World Rap Championships of 2007, as well as former members of Kumbia Kings, Menudo & Grupo Fantasma. Less than a year after coming together Los Bad Apples has managed to stir up an exciting buzz and garner unprecedented attention earning a spot opening for Grammy-winner Ludacris as well as the rising starlet Duffy at a private SXSW showcase. Since then the group has opened for Grammy winners Oscar D'Leon and Me'Shell Ndegeocello.

El Tule - For four years El Tule (el TOO-lay) has been honing its unique sound combining influences of Cumbia, Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Rock, Merengue, Salsa and Reggae. The music is influenced by art, history and culture often focusing on legends and tales of the mystical. The ever evolving sound is a natural progression brought forth by different backgrounds, experiences and influences. While adhering to the bands original goal, the sound has taken its own course. The sound..."El sonido" that El Tule brings to each performance naturally transcends all cultural and social backgrounds. Simple, El Tule is for those who love to dance, feel good and enjoy the positive expression of music.

Frenetica - Frenetica is a Spanglish pop-rock band from Austin unlike any other. Crisscrossing new wave, pop, jazz, punk and rock with lyrics in English and Spanish, Frenetica creates the unique sound of today. In between playing rock clubs and festivals all over Texas, performing alongside bands such as Nortec Collective, Pistolera, Vallejo, La Conquista, and Girl In A Coma, Frenetica released its first debut full-length CD SkitzoFrenetica in 2006.

UT Ballet Folklórico - El Grupo de Danza y Arte Folklórico de la Universidad de Tejas or more commonly known as UT Ballet Folklórico was established in 1975, and has been a member of the Division of Recreational Sports since 1976. The mission of the group is to develop its members to represent the rich and unique culture of Mexico. They attend competitions and perform for private and public functions on campus, in the community, and across the state.

DJ Boozwa - DJ Boozwa is a DJ and producer. His DJ sets include an eclectic collection of latin funk, jazz, salsa, cumbia, reggae dub, psychedelic rock, and hip hop.

Montoya - A fully qualified boogaloo shing-a-ling combo, MONTOYA is a guitar and drums duo formed by brothers Gino and Sergio. Mixing melodic songs in Spanish with progressive hues and new wave influences, the MONTOYA brothers have an expansive vocabulary and a concise lineup. Their new album "Lagarto" is a bizarre collection of adventurous pop.

Master Blaster Sound System - Dusty Oliveira's Master Blaster has taken the principals of 1970's era Jamaican soundsystems, a producer's approach to developing new material and a DJ's skill behind the turntables to develop a unique and inspired mix of cumbia, hip hop and reggae tracks that translates to a new and fresh sound- best described as Underground Cumbia. Dusty Oliveira, known to fans as DJ Dus, has been at the forefront of the new cumbia scene. Master Blaster is a live soundsystem collective that features remixes and mashups of cumbia, reggae and hip hop classics, as well as many of Oliveira's personal studio productions. He serves as composer, arranger and ringmaster, as he ushers onto the stage an all star line up of musicians and vocalists.

Acadêmicos da Ópera Samba School - The Acadêmicos da Ópera Samba School is a group of about two or three dozen performers who love Brazilian music and dance. They play all kinds of music from Brazil, but focus on samba. Acadêmicos da Ópera was created and is led by Robert Patterson (Jacaré). A perennial Brazilian music student, Jacaré has spent countless hours studying and playing with many Brazilian musicians, and travels yearly to Brazil in order to stay on top of all things samba.

Latin at Heart - Four years ago, Latin at Heart was a vague concept in the mind of suburban family man, Billy Wilson. Through countless night time outings, he recruited some of Austin's finest, gradually forming what is pound for pound one of Austin’s best bands. Latin at Heart has shared the stage with Grupo Fantasma and Los Amigos Invisibles, and now has regular shows at Momo’s.

Crying Monkeys - Consider the crying monkeys as ambassadors of choro. We hope you enjoy this offering of one bright star from the magnificent universe of Brazilian music. It all began when a few guitarists decided to meet at Darin’s Lodge in the late hours of Wednesday evenings with our choro music to “practice our sight reading ”. The routine is well established: show up, catch up, drink cerveza, gossip, smoke, and swap gig stories. Then, being totally bleary eyed and full of ourselves, we play tunes from our choro bible and become at turns amazed, humbled, delighted, and moved by these astonishing songs written so long ago in Brazil. The mandate and mission of the lodge is nothing more than the performance and appreciation of this amazing musical style with its unique and perfect synthesis of rhythm and harmony, of singable melodies with African polyrhythm, and of classical elegance with the energy of street music.

Peligrosa – Three of Austin’s Premiere DJs have teamed up to form what is known around town as, Peligrosa. What started out as a show every third Friday at The Creekside Lounge, is now a performance that Xemumba will embrace. Creator, Orion, along with teammates Hobo d and Manolo Black had a vision. There needed to be a night where it would be okay to go from an original Colombian recording of La Piragua to Tego Calderon to an electro remix of a Samim track by Diplo. An evening of sultry unpressured dancing, unlaborous drinking with a generation of our peers and that ever so dangerously fierce young woman, who’s methodologically carnivorous manurisms becon the latin flavor.

Bombasta - The eight piece collective, Bombasta, has quickly evolved from a barrio art house big band into an underground musical movement. With a strong mix of Spanglish politics and roots passion, this San Antonio, TX based ensemble utilizes a full horn-section, accordion, turntables, guitar and lots of percussion, to create a soundtrack for the new Americano experience. The cross pollination of cultural identities along the Texas/Mexico border has given way to Bombasta's unique and signature sound- a mix of cumbia, reggae, hip hop and salsa, that transcends any specific genre. Bombasta regularly tours the region and beyond, most recently headlining festivals on Mexico's pacific coast and receiving national recognition on the syndicated television program "LatiNation". Where ever this band travels, they are sure to create an uprising- so be sure to catch these upcoming Texas break out artists and get caught up in El Movimiento Bombasta.

Salsa Candela - is a friendly group of ten dancers specializing in Cuban-style rueda de casino salsa. We are also passionate about performing bachata, merengue, chachachá, Honduran punta, Mexican quebradita, bolero, rumba, reggaetón and West Coast Swing en español. We often provide introductory Latin dance lessons along with performances. Salsa Candela first began to glimmer when six salsa friends were hired to catalyze private school parents into dancing at a Grupo Fantasma concert at Stubbs in October 2007. By the time New Year's Eve 2007 rolled around, Candela was a full-fledged dance troupe performing with El Tule in the headliner Carmen Miranda float at the First Night Austin Parade. Our goal is to promote the beauty and excitement of salsa dancing to everyone in Austin of any age who is intrigued by Latin rhythms and the irresistible clave.

Cienfuegos - is based in Austin, TX, and specializes in Cuban son and other traditional Latin styles. The band’s instrumentation is reminiscent of Cuban conjuntos of the early 1900’s, with acoustic guitar/Cuban tres/upright bass/trumpet/piano/and hand percussion, as well as strong vocal harmonies. Playing a mix of classic standards and originals written in traditional styles, Cienfuegos has a sound that is at once familiar and refreshingly new. Cienfuegos was voted “Mejor Artista Nuevo” (Best New Artist) in Univision’s PREMIOS MUSICA LATINA de AUSTIN (Latin Music Awards of Austin) 2006 and won top honors in the Salsa/Merengue category in 2007. The band has previously been featured on Fox 7 News in the Morning in Austin, Great Day S.A. in San Antonio, and Horizontes Latin music program on Austin’s KUT 90.5 FM. Mayor Will Winn and the Austin City Council honored the band by proclaiming Nov. 17, 2005, “CIENFUEGOS DAY”.

Kanko - Kanko was formed in 2006 as a collaboration between songwriter Brian Ramos (former lead singer of Grupo Fantasma) and producer Dusty Oliveira (Paula de Anda, Kumbia Kings). The project was conceived as an experiment that would blur the lines between the musical traditions of Latin America to which Ramos was no stranger and the hard edged tones of early hard rock, punk, and hip hop. Hours of experimentation in the studio resulted in a handful of gritty neo-cumbia recordings that would be the foundation for the performing act that would follow. Guitarist Ryan Rooney (tfo, catatonics) came to write for the band as well in 2007 with the addition of Nick Trevino (Echo Bass Sound System) and John Spelce (Hairy Apes), the sound of the group coalesced to bring the house down with brutally soulful Latin rock and roll and hybrid pop music.

O Positivo - O Positivo blends salsa standards with classic son, mambo, and modern Cuban timba. The octet is made up of three percussionists (Pepe Gaytan, Noah Mosgofian and Jason Murdy), who are joined in the rhythm section by bass (Christian Fernandez), and piano (Nick Litterski). The horn section is a trumpet (Marcus Graf) and tenor saxophone (Scottie McIntosh), and they all work to support their lead vocalist, Luis Angel Ibanez. With a powerful sound and unrelenting groove, O Positivo continues to grow into a driving force in Austin's latin music scene.

Soniquete - Soniquete is a latin quartet that blends many of the most beautiful songs of Latin America, from Mexico, to Cuba, to Brazil and beyond. Soniquete members include Luis Angel Ibanez on guitar and lead vocals, Marcus Graf on trumpet and hand percussion, Pepe Gaytan on drums, and Christian Fernandez on bass. All members also contribute vocal harmonies to the mix. Soniquete has been playing in and around Austin for over five years can be found playing in many of Austin's finer restaurants, as well as weddings and private parties.

Son 5 - Son 5 is one of Austin's hottest new bands. With over half of its members originally from Cuba, the band was created with the same instrumentation and musical flavor as the traditional Cuban Septet. The instrumentation includes tres, guitar, bass, two percussionists, trumpet, and a dynamic female vocalist. The band works to stay true to the roots of Cuban music while still pushing forward and developing its own characteristic sound.