While traditional Latin American music has reached wider and wider audiences in its pop-friendly incarnations in recent years, the Mexican group Los Angeles Azules brought their take on the cumbia genre to a whole new fan base when they played at the Coachella music festival earlier this year. Los Angeles Azules were the first cumbia group to ever make the bill.
Although Los Angeles Azules may have been new to Coachella, the band (formed by the six Mejia Avante siblings) has been around since the 1980s, fusing classic cumbia sounds with more modern electronics. The group’s 2014 and 2016 Cumbia Sinfonica albums, featuring versions of their classic songs with guest stars from Mexican popular music, backed by a full orchestra, brought their music to a new generation in the Spanish-speaking world, and now they're ready to expand their reach even further. “Our music knows no bounds: It’s gone from Iztapalapa to the world,” Pepe Mejia Avante told Billboardbefore the band's Coachella gig. “Everyone can dance to Los Angeles Azules’ cumbia.”
Mandalay Bay Beach, 9 p.m. Sept. 21, $50.46 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
