Grupo Fantasma is a nine-piece

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funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

orchestra from

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

Biography

Formed in 2000 from the merger of two Austin acts, The Blimp and The Blue Noise Band, the band emerged with a biweekly gig at the Empanada Parlour in Austin in 2001. The band is best known for their exuberant live shows, innovative contemporary recordings and associations with

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

and his 3121 Club in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The band backed Prince on numerous occasions, including his performance on the

ALMA Award The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and ...

s in 2007, and often performed at his after-party jam sessions. The band has performed with a diverse array of artists including

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...

Sheila E Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

GZA ''Gary Eldridge Grice'' (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both ...

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, and many others. The ensemble has sold more than 20,000 albums independently and has had music featured in many popular television series. Grupo Fantasma twice played the

Austin City Limits Music Festival The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-based ...

and taped an episode of the ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show t ...

'' television series on PBS, which first aired November 17, 2007. They have also performed at such festivals as the

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, Wakarusa,

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and the

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as well as having headlined numerous

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showcases in their career. The band performs frequently, regularly doing over 150 performances a year. Their horn section has also made various appearances on worldwide releases and has recently performed with indie rock band

. Grupo Fantasma's music has been featured in the NYC

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show ''The Unbelievable Show'' from 2001 to 2004. The band has garnered over a dozen

Austin Music Awards Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, and an induction into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. The group's album ''Sonidos Gold'' was nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album for the

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. Grupo's album ''El Existential'' was awarded the Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the

53rd Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

two years later. On March 29th, 2019, Grupo Fantasma released their seventh full length album, ''American Music Vol. VII'', on Blue Corn Music. The album, with its unique multi-ethnic sound, takes on the intricacies of identity. Even the title itself examines issues of identity and the concept of the "other". In a recent review, NPR described ''American Music Vol. VII'' as "a perfectly executed bi-cultural statement, made for the millions of folks who love mariachi as much as James Brown". Grupo Fantasma’s songs “Chocolate”, “Barretta” and “Perso Fra/Mesquites” were featured in Showtime’s '' Weeds'' season 6 premiere episode, which debuted on August 16, 2010, and their cover of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

song "Saturday in the Park" (Sabado en el Parque) was featured on the TV show ''

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''.

Discography

* ''Grupo Fantasma'' (2002) * ''Movimiento Popular'' (2004) * ''Comes Alive'' (2006) * ''Sonidos Gold'' (2008) * '' El Existential'' (2010) * ''Problemas'' (2016) * ''American Music: Volume 7'' (2019) The band has also been featured on various other albums: * ''Mascaras'' by

Sergent Garcia Sergent Garcia is the band formed around French singer ''Bruno Garcia'' (1964, France) who had previously been the guitarist of punk band Ludwig Von 88. Sergent Garcia’s music is a mixture of cumbia, reggae, salsa, Ragga, ragamuffin, rock and ...

(2004 EMI France/Virgin Records) * ''Uno, Dos, Banderas'' by

Control Machete Control Machete is a Mexican hip hop group from Monterrey, Nuevo León. Its members are Fermín IV (listed as Fermin IV Caballero Elizondo in credits), Patricio "Pato Machete" Chapa Elizalde, and Toy Kenobi (Antonio "Toy" Hernández). Histor ...

(2004 Universal) * ''

Eklektikos Live ''eklektikos'' is a classical chamber music ensemble specializing in the performance of music by contemporary Canadian composers. Based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, its core members include Dale Sorensen (trombone and artistic ...

'' (2005) – "Cansado" * ''Homenaje'' by Brownout (2007, Freestyle Records) * ''Aguilas and Cobras'' by Brownout (2009, Six Degrees Records) * ''Oozy'' by Brownout (2012, NatGeo Records)

Band

Current members

* Beto Martinez – Guitar * John Speice – Drums * Jose Galeano – Percussion, vocals * Greg Gonzalez – Bass * Mark Gonzales – Trombone * Josh Levy – Baritone saxophone * Gilbert Elorreaga – Trumpet * Kino Esparza – Vocals, percussion * Matthew Holmes – Congas

Former members

* Johnny Lopez III – Drums * David Lobel – baritone saxophone * Jeremy Bruch - percussion * Brian Ramos - vocals * Joseph Serrato - saxophone * Dave Wolfe - trumpet * Gene Centeno - saxophone * Leo Gauna - trombone *

Adrian Quesada Adrian Quesada is an American musician, producer, and songwriter. He is best known for his work with Black Pumas. Quesada is an eight-time Grammy nominee and won Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album as a member of Grupo Fantasma in 2011. Early l ...

- guitar

References

External links

Grupo Fantasma
(official page)
Grupo Fantasma
at the ''Austin Music Database'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Grupo Fantasma Musical groups from Austin, Texas Latin music groups Musical groups established in 2000 2000 establishments in Texas