Lila Downs Signs Management Deal with Cosmica Artists

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Lila Downs has new out-of-this-world representation…

The 56-year-old Mexican Grammy– and Latin Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has signed a management deal with Cosmica Artists.

The indie record label and company represents Latin talent from alternative genres across Los Angeles, Miami, Austin and Mexico City.

“Reaching our 20 year anniversary at Cosmica Artists is such a proud moment for me as I started this as a one person company, stuffing manilla envelopes with burned promo CDs, xeroxed bios and EPK’s,” Gil Gastelum, founder of Cosmica, tells Variety. “Our new signings usher in a new chapter for Cosmica Artists, as we begin to navigate the future with confidence and pride. Looking at distribution, marketing, publishing, sync, and touring partners future and present has us all ready for the next 20 years.”

Downs incorporates indigenous Mexican influences and has recorded songs in many indigenous languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec, Mayan, Nahuatl and Purépecha.

Downs recently won best folk album at this year’s Latin Grammy Awards for her latest record, Balas y Chocolate.

The Cosmica team spearheaded the return of Mexican singer/songwriter Carla Morrison and her sold out show at the Hollywood Bowl. Most recently, Guatemalan artist Gaby Moreno won a Grammy for best Latin pop album, and claimed multiple Latin Grammy wins.

Cosmica also supported Mexican-American producer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, David Garza on his pair of Grammy wins for co-producing Fiona Apple’s “Fetch the Bolt Cutters”(best alternative album and song).

“It’s been an amazing journey filled with ups and downs, exhilarating highs and thrown under the bus lows,” said Gastelum “We’ve taken it all in and we keep going. I take great pride in working with an amazing staff and roster of talent as we work hard to create a safe and creative space for all of us.”

Other signings include up-and-coming artists Victor Internet and Loyal Lobos.

Mariah Carey Launching 20-City “Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time” Tour This Fall

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is celebrating Christmas in November.

The 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album — and the classic single that came wrapped up inside it, All I Want for Christmas Is You — with a 20-city Christmas tour this fall, under the banner of Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time.

The Live Nation-produced tour will kick off in early November with three shows in southern California and wrap up with a trio of concerts in the New York/New Jersey area in mid-December.

In the Los Angeles region and environs, she’ll be doing a tour premiere November 6 at Highland’s Yaamava Theater, an intimate teaser for a much bigger show she’ll be doing November 8 at the Hollywood Bowl, to be followed by a November 13 gig at the Acrisure Arena in the Palm Springs area.

Bringing the tour to a close, closer to home for Carey, will be concerts on December 13 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, December 15 at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY, and finally, December 17 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

In-between, she’ll be visiting Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Nashville, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Boston and other cities.

Tickets for Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time will be made available via the usual staggered presale dates, beginning with a Verizon presale that starts on August 6, and other early offerings that lead up to a general on-sale August 9 at 10:00 am local time at LiveNation.com. Information on VIP packages can be found at Vipnation.com.

Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time follows the success of a shorter, 13-city holiday tour Carey did in 2023, Merry Christmas One and All!, and will follow a similar template of mixing Christmas fare with the singer’s non-seasonal hits.

On last year’s tour, the bulk of the setlist consisted of holiday songs but had a run of other material that included “Hero,” “We Belong Together” and a massive hits medley in the last stretch of the show.

Although it’s now been three decades since the release of her first and biggest Christmas album, Carey did not begin commemorating that material with special live concerts until 2014, when she did a themed residency at the Beacon Theater in New York. That turned into a series of short tours in subsequent years, including a four-date mini-tour in 2019 that was filmed for a CBS special, Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!

The focus on Christmas tours has coincided with the gradual, belated rise of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as a perennial No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 each December.

The song did not make it to the top position on that chart until 2019, 20 years after its release, but it has peaked at No. 1 every year thereafter.

For anyone who wants to see Carey but not deal quite so much with Christmas, there have been and will be plenty of opportunities this year, as the singer has been doing an intermittent Celebration of Mimi residency in Las Vegas, at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

That run of shows began April 12 and has five further gigs booked in the first half of August before taking a pause and returning in January and February 2025.

Pitbull to Perform During “Keep The Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett” Concert at Hollywood Bowl

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull is hitting the Buffett line…

The 43-year-old Cuban American rap superstar will take part in Keep The Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett, which will take place at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, April 11.

The one-night tribute concert will celebrate the iconic singer-songwriter’s life and career.

Buffett passed away at the age of 76 on September 1, 2023.

In addition to Pitbull. the show lineup will include performances by Paul McCartney, Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi, Zac Brown, Jackson Browne, Brandi Carlile, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Scotty Emerick, Jack Johnson, Caroline Jones, Mac McAnally, Jake Owen, Jake Shimabukuro and The Coral Reefer Band.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, March 15, at 10:00 am PT at Ticketmaster.com.

American Express Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Wednesday, March 13, at 10:00 am through Thursday, March 14, at 10:00 pm. A variety of other presales will also be available during this time.

With a recording career that spanned more than 50 years and included hits such as Margaritaville, Come Monday, and It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, Buffett filled arenas with “Parrot Heads.”

He released more than 30 albums, nine were certified platinum or multiplatinum. In addition, Buffett was a best-selling author, actor, and entrepreneur.

Mariah Carey Releases Special Edition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Video for Her Fans

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is giving her fans a special Christmas gift…

The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan Grammy-winning songstress has been traveling across the country for nearly a month on her festive Merry Christmas One and All tour and she’s officially presented her fans with the greatest gift of all: a new Lambs-centric video for her modern holiday classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

“The best thing about being on tour is getting to celebrate the holidays with my lambily!! To show my appreciation, here is a new video for ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ [Christmas tree, present emoji],” she tweeted. “I’m calling this one the ‘Festive Lambs Edition!’ [heart, snowman emoji].”

The refreshed clip opens with footage of Carey getting touched up backstage before a quick cut of super-excited fans in their Santa finest getting pumped for the show.

The rest of the four-minute visual is essentially a super-cut featuring footage from the concerts intercut with rehearsal run-throughs, peeks at the action backstage, lots of shots of fans singing and dancing along with all their hearts and enough unabashed joy to float you through the next two weeks.

Carey kicked off the tour on November 15 at the Yaamava’ Casino in Highland, CA and she’s kept the sled fueled up through dates at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, as well as gigs in Denver, Kansas City, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

She’ll touch down in Boston on Monday, December 11 as the run winds down with stops in Philadelphia (December 13), Baltimore (December 15) and a final gig at Madison Square Garden in New York on December 17.

Because it’s MC’s time of year, of course “All I Want for Christmas is You” reclaimed the top spot on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts dated December 9, dashing from No. 3 to No. 1 on the former and 8-1 on the latter.

Café Tcvba to Perform During This Year’s Hollywood Bowl Summer Season

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Café Tcvba is bowled over…

The Mexican Latin Grammy-winning band will be taking the stage as part of the official 2023 Hollywood Bowl Summer Season.

The legendary band will reprise their electrifying collaboration with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, showcasing the catalog that led The New York Times to call them “the greatest rock band in Mexico” and “possibly even the world.”

Café Tcvba will perform on Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22.

Janet Jackson will open the official summer season with a performance of her Together Again Tour on June 10.

In addition to Café Tcvba and Jackson, the season will include dates from Jill Scott, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, The Beach Boys, Kool & The Gang, Sparks, Café Tcvba, Portugal. The Man, Maggie Rogers, Louis Tomlinson and more.

Prior to the summer season, the Bowl will also see shows fromReba McEntire, Phish, Andrea Bocelli, Shania Twain and a special celebration for Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday.

The LA Phil has announced concerts and events running through September 24 with additional artists including Jacob Collier, Buddy Guy, Air Supply, Culture Club, Herbie Hancock, My Morning Jacket and Gladys Knight.

“As we look to the next hundred years at the Hollywood Bowl, I am honored and excited to share a season which, to me, speaks of a beautiful future ahead,” says LA Phil music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel in a release. “From timeless music by Mendelssohn, de Falla and Verdi, to modern-day classics by John Williams and Duke Ellington, to the soul-filling sounds of our Pan-American Music Initiative, to the singular energy of Café Tacvba, each of these programs takes us on the kind of magic journey that can only begin at the Bowl.”

The Bowl will also feature several films in concert including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and 2001: A Space Odyssey. There will also be a sing-a-long for Sound of Music and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Concert that will showcase the music and animation of Disney over the past century including highlights from Snow White to Encanto.

The famed Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival will take place June 17-18 with Kamasi Washington, Leon Bridges, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Digable Planets, The Soul Rebels with Big Freedia, Samara Joy, West Coast Get Down and more.

Dudamel will also conduct the LA Phil in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and, alongside famed Hollywood movie composer John Williams, will share the podium for three special evenings of Maestro of the Movies: John Williams with the LA Phil including a selection of films clips on the big screens.

The LA Phil is also partnering with KCRW to present genre-spanning concerts: Reggae Nights XXI featuring Beres Hammond and Steel Pulse, Portugal. The Man with Chicano Batman and Say She She, Maggie Rogers with Alvvays, Los Auténticos Decadentes and more.

“There is no place like the Hollywood Bowl on a summer night, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for another unforgettable season of music led by the extraordinary vision of Gustavo Dudamel,” said LA Phil chief content and engagement officer Renae Williams Niles.

Check out the full schedule here.

Stephanie Beatriz & Her Fellow Cast Mates Reuniting for “Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl”

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Stephanie Beatriz is bringing her magical casa to the Hollywood Bowl…

The 41-year-old Colombian/Bolivian Argentine actress, model and singer and her fellow Encanto cast mates will take over the Hollywood Bowl for an unforgettable concert spectacular streaming only on Disney+ on Wednesday, December 28.

Audiences will step into the world of Casa Madrigal as the original cast reunites for Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl featuring Beatriz (as Mirabel), Adassa (as Dolores), Carolina Gaitán (as Pepa), Jessica Darrow (as Luisa), Diane Guerrero (as Isabela), Mauro Castillo (as Félix), Angie Cepeda (as Julieta) and Olga Merediz (as Abuela Alma).

The special will feature other special guests, including legendary Colombian superstars and Latin Grammy winners, Carlos Vives and Andrés Cepeda, and an introduction from Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl will premiere exclusively on Disney+. The live-to-film concert experience streams at no additional costs to subscribers and will feature an 80-person orchestra, 50 dancers and captivating special effects giving viewers a spectacular, front-row seat to the musical extravaganza celebrating the world, characters and songs of the Oscar-winning animated film.

Those who are already subscribed can begin streaming Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl as soon as it hits the platform.

Disney+ to Release New Original Special “Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl,” Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, in December

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Lin-Manuel Miranda is preparing for an Enchanting night in Southern California…

Disney+ has announced its new original special Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, with an introduction by the 42-year-old Tony Award-winning Broadway star, will launch on Wednesday, December 28, on the streamer.

The two-night concert event will take place at the Hollywood Bowl on November 11 and 12. The special comes from Disney Branded Television and will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions.

The original voice cast of “Encanto” will reunite at the Bowl, including Stephanie Beatriz (as Mirabel), Adassa (as Dolores), Carolina Gaitán (as Pepa), Jessica Darrow (as Luisa), Diane Guerrero (as Isabela), Mauro Castillo (as Félix), Angie Cepeda (as Julieta) and Olga Merediz (as Abuela Alma).

The event will also feature special guests, including Colombian stars Carlos Vives and Andrés Cepeda. The live-to-film concert experience, including an 80-person orchestra, 50 dancers and special effects, will center on the characters and songs of Disney Animation’s Encanto.

Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl will be directed by Chris Howe and Jamal Sims with production design by Misty Buckley. Sally Wood is Fulwell 73 Productions’ creative showrunner, with Gabe Turner, Emma Conway and Lou Fox serving as executive producers.

The Hollywood Bowl’s visual transformation into the Casita is handled by NorthHouse.

The concert event is produced by Fulwell 73 Productions, Live Nation–Hewitt Silva and Disney Concerts, along with AMP Worldwide.

Conductor Anthony Parnther will lead the full orchestra performing the film’s score and songs live-to-picture, along with the cast and special guest artists performing the film’s songs live. A Colombian band, featuring musicians from the original soundtrack, will accompany the orchestra.

Jhené Aiko to Perform at CNN’s “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom” Concert

Posted on June 19, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jhené Aiko is helping celebrate Juneteenth…

The 34-year-old part-Spanish and Dominican American Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter will perform as part of CNN’s first-ever Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom programming, featuring a Hollywood Bowl concert with a lineup of artists.

The goal of the program: to inform and educate viewers on the meaning of the new federal holiday.

CNN obtained the rights to the event, from Live Nation Urban and Jesse Collins Entertainment, and the lineup includes Chaka Khan, Khalid, Yolanda Adams, Anthony Hamilton, Billy Porter, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Earth, Wind & Fire, Killer Mike, Lucky Daye, Mary Mary, Aiko, Ne-Yo, Michelle Williams, Mickey Guyton, Robert Glasper and The Roots, among others.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver taped remarks.

Johnita P. Due, senior vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for CNN Worldwide, said in an interview this week that event “is really one of the most meaningful things that I have been involved in” at the network.

“The thing that makes it special, of course, is that it was only a year ago that the federal government made Juneteenth a national holiday,” she said. “So how many times in history will we have that opportunity to really shape for the country, and for the world, how a holiday is celebrated, and the meaning of a holiday and the importance of a holiday.”

This is the 157th anniversary of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. June 19, 1865 was the date that federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX and informed citizens that slavery had been abolished in the state. The anniversary was commemorated the following year with prayers and singing, and it endured as an annual tradition.

“We really feel that with this event, we are able to not only commemorate the holiday, but we’re able to educate people around the meaning behind it, and also to uplift and inspire people to continue to make a difference and continue in the pursuit if freedom for all,” Due said.

The event also will include The Re-Collective Orchestra, a 68-piece all Black symphony orchestra that will be the first time that an all-Black symphony has performed at the bowl. Adam Blackstone and Questlove will serve as the evening’s musical directors.

Earlier in the evening, Don Lemon will anchor a pre-show highlighting African American advocates and creators.

On Thursday, CNN Business hosted a streamed conversation on advancing Black leadership, with correspondent Stephanie Elam sitting down with Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer. Also appearing were Operations Hope Founder and CEO John Hope Bryant and Collab Capital co-founder Barry Givens.

Due said that CNN staff had been brainstorming ideas for coverage of Juneteenth, and went on a tour with curators at the National Museum of African American History and Culture before they connected with Live Nation Urban. She said that artists will give music and spoken word performances that share their experiences of Black America. Interstitial packages will be woven in with the live performances.

The goal also was to have a diversity of music genres, including rap, R&B, country, soul, hip hop and gospel. Viewers also will be directed to ways they can get engaged in organizations and volunteer activities.

Due said that they “want people to be uplifted and we want people to be motivated.”

“We want people to walk away with a renewed commitment to make a difference in society as it relates to racial and social justice and equity,” she said.

Christina Aguilera to Perform at the Soon-to-Reopen Hollywood Bowl This Summer

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Christina Aguilera is preparing to bowl over fans this summer…

The Hollywood Bowl has announced it’s all-star lineup for its first summer season since the pandemic shutdown, which kicks off earlier than previously expected, with the 40-year-old half-Ecuadorian American singer set to perform.

On May 15, conductor Gustavo Dudademal and the LA Philharmonic will be the first to return to the Bowl.

Viola Davis will appear alongside Dudamel and the LA Phil on July 15, on the heels of her Best Actress Oscar nomination for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, serving as the narrator of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale, Peter and the Wolf.

She’ll be followed, on July 16 and 17, by five-time Grammy winner Aguilera.

Cynthia Erivo, who recently starred as Aretha Franklin in Nat Geo’s Genius: Aretha, is set to appear on July 30, performing tunes by Franklin, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and others, in addition to selections from her forthcoming debut album.

Meanwhile, recent Oscar winner H.E.R. will perform her first-ever concerts with an orchestra on August 13 and 14.

Over the course of the summer, the Bowl will also present a number of special events, including two Fireworks Spectaculars, on July 3 and 4, in observance of Independence Day. Those shows will feature appearances from disco-funk legends Kool & the Gang.

Other notable events include “The Princess Bride in concert” (July 31), “Sing-A-Long Sound of Music” (August 21), “Black Panther in concert” (September 10-12), and “Maestro of the Movies” (September 3-5). At the latter event, which serves as the Bowl’s annual celebration of film music, John Williams and David Newman will conduct the LA Phil.

Check out the full schedule for the summer by clicking here.

Mariachi Divas Among the Acts Taking Part in Mariachi USA’s First-Ever Digital Festival

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mariachi Divas are among the acts taking their Mariachi USA show online…

For the first time in its 30 years of existence, the Mariachi USA festival is going digital and hosting a free two-hour special event in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, featuring the Grammy-winning all-female mariachi band based in Los Angeles.

The virtual festival will take place on Sunday, October 11.

The festival, founded in 1990 by artist and producer Rodri J. Rodriguez, was held every summer at the iconic Hollywood Bowl, but because of COVID-19, this year’s event will look different.

“To know we weren’t having a show at the Bowl was heartbreaking,” Rodriguez tells Billboard. “We know what this festival means to our musicians, which is exposure, and our now multigenerational audience since we are now entertaining the grandkids and great grandkids of those who have supported us since day one.”

This year’s virtual fest, which will stream on YouTube, will feature mariachi ensembles from all over the U.S., including Mariachi Divas, Mariachi Los Reyes, Mariachi Lindas Mexicanas and Mariachi Nuevo Tecatitlán, to name a few.

“We still have to take music to the people and I needed to create something that would put a little bit of money in our musician’s pockets because they are hurting,” says Rodriguez.

Sidelined by the global pandemic, the mariachi community, which depends heavily on gigs in order to make an income, has reinvented the serenata. Now, wearing face masks in addition to their traditional charro suit and standing six feet apart from each other is the new norm.

Rodriguez also had to reinvent the festival in order to make it work. “We had to pre-record everyone because mariachi is very unique. It’s not just three or four bandmembers. Some groups have 16 and each state has different COVID-19 regulations,” Rodriguez explains. “Some recorded in backyards, horse ranches and empty theaters. I have been so impressed with how everyone stepped up. It’s exciting and motivating.”

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to an end, Rodriguez hopes this virtual festival will remind the Latino community that, “there is pride in what we do and what we own. What we own is our heritage and our culture and no one can take that away from us,” she says. “With our concerts we deliver a very specific message and that’s a message of passion and the pride that we all carry within us and that cannot be silenced.”

The first-ever virtual Mariachi USA festival will stream here on Sunday starting at 8:00 pm ET.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

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