Ben Tavera King (born 1952) is a Latin American musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer from the United States. He has recorded various genres from Tex-Mex to

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

and is proficient on numerous stringed instruments including guitar,

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

, and vihuela. King received notice in the 1980s and early 1990s on

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

for his releases, many of which were issued on his own labels, Inner Ear Records, Talking Taco Music, and Iago Records.Philip Krumm, Ben Tavera Kingat Allmusic He has composed the music for several PBS programs including ''Heritage'' and ''Mujeres Con SIDA''. The album entitled ''Themes Of Passion'' was composed as the soundtrack for the PBS special, ''Los Mineros''. His most commercially successful album was 1990's ''Coyote Moon'' which peaked at #5 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

World Music Albums chart.

Allmusic

Discography

*1980: Ben Tavera King - ''Manic Hispanic'' (Inner Ear) *1982: Frank Corrales, Ben Tavera King, And The Los Folkeros Group - ''Saturday Night San Antonio: Tex-Mex Dance Music'' ( Folkways) *1983: Los Polkeros De Ben Tavera King - ''Border Bash: Tex-Mex Dance Music, Vol. 2'' (Folkways) *1984: Ben Tavera King Y Los Jazztecs - ''Border Crossings: New Directions In Tex-Mex Music'' (Folkways) *1988: Ben Tavera King - ''Desert Dreams'' ( Sony) *1990: Ben Tavera King - ''Coyote Moon'' (Global Pacific) *1992: Ben Tavera King - ''Visions & Encounters'' (Talking Taco) *1993: Ben Tavera King - ''Turquoise Trail'' (Talking Taco) *1994: Ben Tavera King - ''Themes Of Passion'' (Talking Taco) *1994: Ben Tavera King - ''Hunting Magic'' (Talking Taco) *2003: Ben Tavera King - ''Rio Grande Romeos'' (Talking Taco) *2007: Los Polkeros De Ben Tavera King - ''Down Home Saturday Night'' ( Smithsonian Folkways) *2008: Ben Tavera King With The Native Flute Ensemble - ''Visions & Healing'' (Talking Taco)

References

External links

King Discography
at Smithsonian Folkways {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Ben Tavera American new-age musicians Living people 1952 births Place of birth missing (living people)