Monthly Archives: March 2009

Key Kumbia All-Starz members are looking for work and/or planning new groups which begs the question:  What happened to Kumbia All-Starz?  Are they done and what is A.B. Quintanilla up to now musically?

First, D.J. Kane’s Official MySpace posted bulletins and a blog posting on March 3  announcing that D.J. Kane was open for club dates.  Another blog on Feb. 11 offers D.J. Kane’s vocal services for new singles being recorded. 

Now, Chris Perez, guitarist and former (?) member of A.B.’s Kumbia All-Starz is starting a new Latin rock project that is temporarily titled “Chris Perez New Project” until fans decide on a new name.  Fans can send in their ideas for the group’s name to Chris at:  chrisperezproject@gmail.com.  



Check out Perez (if you live in or near the S.A. area) when he performs this Thursday at San Antonio’s Cabo with Grupo Metal, which includes another Kumbia All-Starz alum, Carlito. 

If you know any news about the All-Starz and their fate, comment on this post. If MySpace friendships mean anything, it appears that D.J. Kane and A.B. are still “top friends.” Who knows?

In the meantime, we’ll keep digging and looking forward to fresh new sounds from these talented musicians.

Some negative comments have been posted regarding Jennifer Pena’s appearance at the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair. I will stop posting any negative comments because I put these videos up here for people to enjoy and for fans to celebrate the music not to degrade it and put down the artists. If you have a different opinion, state it like a mature adult without resorting to insulting remarks. If you are not intelligent enough to disagree without name-calling and put-downs, then your thoughts are not worth posting on my site.

Jennifer’s performance at the Fan Fair created a much-needed buzz of hype and excitement and she showed so much love for her fans by staying to autograph even after being told to wrap it up by the security and police.  She did not want to disappoint the fans who swarmed her autograph booth.  During my interview with her I was rushing and I cut her off when she said that she was there to support her band – and also for the fans, too, of course.  Listen to the video again.

To me, Jennifer will always be a Tejano artist because that is where she got her start.  She moved beyond the Tejano market because of her talent and she actually left Selena’s old record label, Q Productions, to strike out on her own into the regional Mexican and Latin pop market. Her music has a sound and style all its own that is distinct from Selena’s music. She excels at ballads and the passionate cumbias that make you dance.

I give props to Jennifer for stopping by the Fan Fair and staying late – despite being sick – to sign autographs and chat with fans and old friends.

Let’s support the artists who get up on those stages to entertain us and let’s also recognize how much courage it takes to get in front of people and put your heart and soul out there for all to see.  If you don’t like a particular artist or style of music, then move on to what you like and let the rest of us enjoy!

Check out awesome footage from Mario’s YouTube Channel taken by Anthony (without whom I would not have met and interviewed Jennifer!).  She performed three songs: “Como Entender,” “Tuya,” and “Hasta El Fin Del Mundo.”

 Jennifer was a trooper despite having a bad cough and cold and she never let on that she was feeling ill while on stage. She also stayed after to sign autographs despite the cops shutting down her autograph booth because it was after 11 p.m. already.  She stayed as long as she could and even kept signing autographs as she walked into the building where they led her away.  Loved it! 

See Jennifer Pena’s surprise performance at the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair on Friday night.  More surprises to come today from what we hear and it seems La Mafia is the much-anticipated, surprise guest.  We’ll wait and see, but no matter what unfolds, we’ll catch it for you!  Thanks for checking out Tejano Beat!

The return of Jennifer Pena on Friday delivered drama and excitement to a record-setting first day of the Tejano Music Awards (TMA) Fan Fair.

Listed only as “Special Guest” on the schedule to perform with BMF, Jennifer’s appearance was all the buzz around Market Square. Was she coming or was it a rumor? Late in the day, emcees on the Main Stage 1 confirmed her appearance by announcing that Jennifer was returning to the Tejano stage after nine years.

More to come (in a few hours!) on what unfolded last night – including a last-minute stage switch, police shutting down Jennifer’s autograph booth and of course, exclusive footage of and an interview with Jennifer who looked radiant and sounded great despite suffering from a cold.

REPOSTING PRESS RELEASE FROM TTMA:

Free event features live music on multiple stages in historic Market Square

SAN ANTONIO (March 18, 2009) – This weekend, thousands of Tejano music fans will travel to the historic Market Square in downtown San Antonio, the “Tejano Music Capital of the World,” for the annual Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair. The free event will showcase more than 100 bands on six stages and representing states including Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan Utah and California.  The three-day fan fair from Friday, March 20 through Sunday, March 22, 2009, gets fans ready for the upcoming 29th Annual Tejano Music Awards.

The Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair is a family-friendly event that will offer traditional food, beverage and vendor booths. Fans will get exclusive access to their favorite artists during special autograph sessions scheduled for all three days.  Live music will fill the air from noon to midnight with a schedule of performers that includes rising stars to the top Tejano acts.

Performers this year include headliners Stefani Montiel, Elida Reyna, Ricardo Castillon y La Diferenzia, Jay Perez and Jimmy Gonzales y Grupo Mazz.  Exciting new artists scheduled to perform include Veronica Meza, La Calma, A.J. Castillo, Veronica y Avance, and Genyva.

WHO: Texas Talent Musicians Association (TTMA), producers of the 29th Annual Tejano Music Awards present the annual Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair
WHAT: FREE event that features three days of live Tejano music on six stages
WHEN: Noon-Midnight, Friday-Sunday, March 20-22, 2009
WHERE: Historic Market Square in Downtown San Antonio, Texas
VISUALS: Artist performances; fans participating in the Special Autograph Session; More than 90,000 people enjoying the music and dancing in the streets

Just saw an article posted on MySA.com of a Houston Chronicle report on Emilio who apparently got probation for drunken driving in the Easter morning crash last year that left him severely injured.

The photo shows Emilio sitting in court wearing a protective headgear.

More to come later. Sad and shocking.

UPDATE:  Hector Saldana of the San Antonio Express-News interviews Emilio’s lawyers who talk about their client’s condition

Video will be up later today but here are some sightings from last night’s awards show at the Majestic Theatre:

• A sighting of Abraham Quintanilla, father of Selena, in the lobby before the show
• Oscar of La Mafia flubbing his lines during an awards presentation and dropping his notes (he admitted that it wasn’t his best moment!)
• Las Voces de Tejas – Stefani, Shelly, Rebecca, Patsy and Leslie Lugo – performing a tribute to Rocio Durcal and wearing flowing, Mexican dresses
• New singer Elizabeth getting emotional during her acceptance speech for Mejor Revelacion del Ano

Who we interviewed:

• Birthday “man” Flaco Jimenez who celebrated his 70th birthday the day before (and was an award winner last night)
• Michael Salgado – a double award winner
• Hanna and Ashley of pop group, Ha*Ash arriving on the red carpet
• Oscar and Mando of La Mafia

Message us on MySpace or here and tell us who you’d like us to interview and which performances you are most pumped about seeing, too.

Of course, we’ll try and bring you the backstage drama and on-the-scene sights and sounds for those who can’t make it out.

Should be a good show if the past is any indication. Click on the logo for details about tonight’s show.