The Latin flavor at Pride was HOT, HOT!

This past weekend the city of San Francisco commemorated the 40th anniversary of the internationally famous Pride Festival. Since it was the 40th year, the theme was appropriately called “40 and Fabulous” and fabulous it was. For two days, the city was filled with tons of people from all over the world, amusing characters, fun vibe and infectious music.

The music was a pleasure to your ears; the sounds were all over the musical spectrum. On the main stage and as Grand Marshalls were none other than the Backstreet Boys (yes believe it or not they are still around and the gay community LOVES them.)  As with most festivals, the latin music also took center stage and on the latin stage (sponsored by Club Papi & Granda Entertainment) were none other than María José & Edith Marquez. I had already told you guys about María José, she is awesome live and she came to Pride along Edith Marquez to perform for the gay community.

Maria Jose pumped the crowd with songs from her second album Amante De Lo Ajeno and she also did renditions of classics from Kabah. She also performed a duet with Edith Marquez, the song called Cosas Del Amor.

 During a small intermission I had the chance to chit chat with Maria Jose in her trailer, for all my Spanish speaking readers, check out the interview below, enjoy!





 

Entrevista a Maria Jose en el festival Pride de SF by themusicchroniclesofazu


Credits: Vesper PR

If you are craving awesome 80s covers, you gotta check out María José!

If you are like me, then you most likely grew up in a bilingual household, listening to 80s and 90s English music while also enjoying the guilty pleasures of Spanish Music. If so, then, perhaps you were drawn to catchy pop music like that of Mexican pop band Kabah. Who doesn’t remember La Calle De La Sirenas, Al Pasar and Amor De Estudiante? (among many of Kabah’s pop tunes.)

Well, fast forward to the year 2007 and that’s when one of Kabah’s members María José debut her first solo project titled María José. During her promotion stint, she made a stop in Sunnyvale, CA. opening for Mexican band Motel. The first single from her solo debut was Quién Eres Tú which featured none other than "sexy-six-pack" Trey Songz (yes, the one who sings Say Aah.)

In May of last year she came out with her sophomore album titled Amante De Lo Ajeno where she covers some pretty amazing 80s classics (tell your mom about her CD, trust me, she’ll want to buy it.) The CD features songs like Mi Amor, Amor (song made famous by singer and novela star Lucia Mendez), Adelante Corazón (also made famous in the voice of Daniela Romo) and No Soy Una Señora (made famous by naturalized Venezulean singer Melissa.)

So, if you like some good ole’s 80s Spanish songs, then buy Maria Jose’s new CD. Check out her twitter, facebook, myspace and her official website for more info and tour dates. She will be coming by the Bay Area at the end of June for Pride in SF so stay tuned!

Meantime, here’s her new music video from the single Adelante Corazón, enjoy!





Credits: Seitrack/Ocesa

Electropop at its finest, courtesy of Moenia.

Back in 2007, little ole’ me was a struggling college student trying to make my way into the entertainment business as a reporter. One of the first opportunities I was given was by my Union Rocker fam bam and it was to interview Alfonso Pichardo (Poncho) lead singer of Moenia. Oh boy was I nervous! Yes, Azu was very, extremely nervous. I have to say that he was super sweet and very accessible, at the time the band was finishing up their tour before taking a break to focus on individual projects.
 
Luckily for Moenia fans, the band recently released a new CD titled En Eléctrico. In late April I had the pleasure of chatting with Poncho over the phone during the radio show that I am part of (Sábado Loco, every Saturday from 8-10PM on iFM 104.9FM in the Bay Area.)
 
During the phone conversation Poncho talked about the new CD which features hits that the band previously recorded but with a fresh and new sound. The band used a lot of vintage synthetizers and the entire album was recorded during an intimate concert aimed for Moenia’s biggest fans. The album features several collaborations one of which is the one with María José for the song called No Importa Que El Sol Se Muera. If you want to check out the entire interview, go to Union Rocker’s website.

The band will be touring over the summer and Poncho told me that San Jose, CA. it’s one of the cities they definitely want to visit. Let’s hope that is the case! 
 
Here’s the video to the song No Importa Que El Sol Se Muera featuring  María José. Don’t forget to check out Moenia’s website for up-to-date tour info. 



Credits: Seitrack/Ocesa