Blogging, writing, reporting on music and entertainment news can be fun and sometimes a lot of work.

There's a lot of folks - labels reps, promoters, readers, fans, supporters, etc, we have to thank for helping us out, and we also can't forget the readers, surfers and visitors who make our websites a regular stop.

Thank you all again.

Every now and then I run across a special or really cool website that we must share. This week it is Hispanictips.com. Webmaster Tomas does a masterful job of rounding up the very best in headlines in music, entertainment, politics, world, business, sports, etc. I go to this site a lot.

Check it out at this url: http://www.hispanictips.com. And spread the word about this site.

And here is a sample entertainment page from Hispanic Tips:

 

 

Blogante Entertainment: Hispanic y Latino News & Info (Noticias)

Blogante Entertainment Feed

Drill Down: View Blogante Entertainment News by State

"

Drill Down: View Blogante Entertainment stories in the following categories (this is a new feature some may be empty!)

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Business

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Marketing

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Media

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Art y Cultura

Blogante Entertainment Latinas

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Immigration

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Politics

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Community

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Education

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino Higher Education

Blogante Entertainment Hispanic/Latino People

Expanded View - with excerpts & sources
Latest 75 Headlines

May 13, 2008

Busca Thalía la reconciliación

Maná ya es de platino

Roselyn Sanchez will get married in November!

Denisse Oller Returns to Television

Cristián de la Fuente perseveres on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

TimesTalk Events with Leguizamo, Daniele, & Miranda - NYC

“Sounds Latino!” Exhibition at UCSB Accessible Via Telephone

Mayor Bloomberg and Latin Media and Entertainment Commission Announce New Efforts to Position New York City as the Center for Latin Media and Entertainment

Contemporary Latin musical “In the Heights” gets 13 Tony nominations

Alfredo De Quesada Actor to Watch and to Watch For

Coming up:
Concerts Calendar 4/13
Pee Wee interview: ''On MTV, single and launching a solo career"

(Courtesy) Joe Lopez, a recent CD cover.

OK, so ex-Mazz singer Joe Lopez is not really dying in prison. Almost as soon as we posted our first story on Joe Lopez in this LNN report: Lorenzo Lopez: 'Joe Lopez is not doing good', the calls and e-mails started.

And Joe's brother Lorenzo and his wife, Judy, also reported getting numerous call and e-mails from folks asking if Joe Lopez was really dying in prison.

According to Judy, "Everyone is suffering this situation. But to clarify, Joe Lopez is not dying. For the most part, he is in good spirits, considering where he is. But Lorenzo is his brother and you have to understand when it comes to family, it really hurts to see him (Joe) in there.

"We're asking everyone to please visit or website (www.justice4joelopez.org) and sign our petition. So far we have more than 500 signatures."

Further below, Movement founder Christina Hernandez explains movement progress and goals.

Otherwise, the first report is still accurate when it comes to Joe Lopez's hip problems and other matters. Currently, Joe Lopez is incarcerated at the Huntsville Prison System's Goree Unit in Huntsville, a 1,100-capacity unit that was established in 1907.

We recently met with Christina Hernandez, founder of the "Justice 4 Joe Lopez" campaign and Web site, www.justice4joelopez.org. Hernandez came across as a serious, dedicated individual who truly believes Joe Lopez is innocent. In just a few minutes, she quickly went down a big list of questionable court decisions and procedural rulings from that Joe Lopez case.

(Courtesy) Christina Hernandez, and Judy Ramos-Lopez, right at TMA Fan Fair at justice4joelopez booth.

Hernandez's business-like demeanor and tone of seriousness was a welcome, almost refreshing change in the music industry.

While most fans are easily impressed with the entertainment business, insiders know the business is full of it own crazies and fly-by-nights. And more than a few emails that we got, suggested that only loonies would be interested in getting Joe Lopez a new trial.

No one should dismiss the Joe Lopez case so easily.

History is full of innocent men who are wrongly accused and imprisoned. By most accounts, Joe Lopez was never a saint either. But Joe Lopez, like any other citizen, deserves his day in court and any and all appeals processes that are part of the justice system.

We're not here to defend or judge Joe Lopez, simply reporting what's happening with him, his family and his supporters who are seeking an appeal.

Joe Lopez was convicted in October 2006 on one count of indecency with a child and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. The sentences were to run concurrent which means Joe Lopez is facing a 20-year sentence.

Hernandez had no illusions on the time and cost to be incurred during this appeal process and movement.

"This could take 15 years, we don't know," she said. "We're just going to work to bring to light all the questionable things (court case proceedings) that have happened. Most people don't believe or can't understand that innocent people can get jailed, until it happens to them or their family."

As promised last week here is the mailing address for Joe Lopez:
Jose Manuel Lopez TDC #01399866
Goree Unit
Huntsville, Texas 77344

**A word of caution. All incoming mail for prison system inmates is routinely screened. If authorities feel a letter is a threat to the inmate it will not be given to them. Sometimes a threatening letter may be investigated by law enforcement.

We'll have more updates later. More details at: www.justice4joelopez.org

 

Recent CDs that may be worth checking out include the latest by Natalie Lafourcade and Dezatados. These reviews below I wrote and ran in Latino Future magazine - http://www.latinofuture.com recently. 

 

Drop us a comment on these, or other CDs you found interesting.

 

CD reviews:

Natalia Lafourcade

"Las 4 estaciones del Amor"

Sony BMG

 

 

Natalia Lafourcade was only 8 when she began writing songs. Her self-titled debut CD, released in 2003, was musically similar to Shakira - driving rock tunes with reflective lyrics. But on this new CD, the singer/songwriter takes a radical detour. The CD is a four-track, all-instrumental, symphonic album featuring the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil del Estado de Veracruz (Veracruz Symphonic Youth Orchestra). Lafourcade wrote all the music, directed and produced the CD. Each tune represents a season -- summer, fall, winter and spring -- and according to Lafourcade, the four stations of love. The music is by turns spacey, stark, melancholy and thrilling, and it seems to match the shifting emotions Lafourcade sees in the seasons. She sees summer as a dreamtime, fall a period of mixed emotion, winter as cold and spring as a time for new love and new colors.

 

Dezatados

"Con todo el Poder"

Univision

 

Young Duranguense band spreads it wings on its 12-track debut. Lead by singer Ismael Hernández, the group tackles a dance-friendly mix of norteño and Duranguense cumbias and polkas. But what stands out is the band's major reworking of Juan Luís Guerra's bachata classic "Bachata Rosa." The original romantic ballad, a smash hit for Guerra in the early '90s, has been transformed into a horn-fueled dance tune. Other top cuts include the group's version of Joan Sebastian's "El Maracas," and Pablo Milanes' "Si tu te vas," again reworking them with the fast-beat and exuberant horn power that distinguishes Duranguense music, a relatively new subgenre. Some faces in the seven-member Duranguense band may look familiar. Hernandez and several members of the group recently left Los Horoscopos de Durango, one of the hottest Duranguense bands on the scene.

SIX QUESTIONS: Urban rap group Orishas says their youthful mix of hip-hop, Afro-Cuban son and vocal harmonies rarely gets airplay - but singer Yotuel Romero says that doesn't bother them. Their latest CD is "Antidiótico."

 

This interview first ran in Latino Future - http://www.latinofuture.com 

So, is radio really not that important to you?

"I believe that good music, nothing can stop it. We would love to be on the radio like all the reggaeton bands, but they tell us Orishas is in a format of music that does not pass on the radio. And we're never going to produce music, just to get on radio."

 

So how do you expect your music to get heard on a major basis with minimal airplay?

"With a top quality and a cultural richness that is incredible. I think that is important, and the sound you hear in Orishas, you can't find anywhere else."

 

Today's music marketplace has online access, ringtones, and mobile digital distribution. Do you think that has helped the younger audience stay in touch with your music?

"Yes. That are a lot of people who follow us and that is why Orishas is here. It is like a cult, our music has a certain identity and it inspires many other new bands. I recently talked to Daddy Yankee and Pitbull and they super fans.

 

The new CD is a compilation of your previous works. How difficult was it to make the final selections?

"We (Yotuel, Roldan (Gonzalez) and Ruzzo (Hiram Riveri)) all agreed that we would each pick whatever 13 songs we wanted. And it turned out that coincidently, we had 12 songs in common. These songs marked the era for us, they marked the decade that has been Orishas."

 

Can your fans expect the group to continue it's  collaborations and musical mix that's on ""Antidiótico"?

"Yes. We're going to continue doing those things, playing the Cuban trova, the folk music. We're always looking for new sounds and new musical collaborations and more experimentation."

Coming up:
Jose Ruben De Leon hosts Mothers' Day Concert
Tejano Conjunto fest: Footstomping time

(Courtesy) Joe Lopez in another time

Famed Tejano singer Joe Lopez is not doing good in a the Huntsville prison says his brother Lorenzo Lopez.

"We're losing him...se esta muriendo," said Lorenzo, Joe's younger brother.

Joe Lopez, a former lead singer for Tejano group Mazz, has been in a Huntsville prison since he was convicted in October 2006 on one count of indecency with a child and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. The sentences were to run concurrent which mean Lopez is facing a 20-year sentence.

As reported in this Brownsville Herald new story,
Justice' campaign crusades for jailed Joe Lopez, recently, Lorenzo Lopez, and his wife Judy, have headed a new movement, the "Justice 4 Joe Lopez" campaign and Web site, www.justice4joelopez.org. According to the couple, so far they have collected some 400-plus signatures on a petition proclaiming his innocence.

Coming up:
Israel 'Cachao' Lopez dead at 89
Hispanic Heritage Society presents 'Bolero Tribute to Maria Grever'

(Courtesy) Emilio in critical condition.

 

Sunday 3:12 p.m.

Tejano singer Emilio Navaira is in critical condition in a Houston hospital after his tour bus crashed early Sunday morning.

According to this Houston Chronicle news story
Tejano star Emilio Navaira hospitalized after bus crash:
"Navaira was one of eight people injured in the crash, Houston TV stations KTRK and KHOU reported. Navaira was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where hospital administrator Lisa Lagrone listed him in critical condition. The others were taken to Memorial Hermann and Ben Taub hospitals."
To continue...click MORE below

 

 Early reports indicate Navaira was driving the bus but Sunday afternoon Chronicle reporter Mike Glenn said that a police investigator later told him that could not be confirmed.

We've tried to reach Navaira's family members here in San Antonio, but as it turns out most of the family is in Houston at the hospital.

However, a closed family friend said the 45-year-old Navaira sustained serious head injuries in the accident. He is in critical condition as doctors monitor the pressure in his brain. The family friend said the next 24-hours are the most critical.

The Grammy-winning Emilio and his group Rio, performed Saturday night at a Houston night club.

According to the Chronicle and other news reports, the tour bus was heading north along the west 610 Loop near the Southwest Freeway when it crashed into a set of freeway barrels shortly before 5 a.m.

To his fans, Navaira is known simply as Emilio. Over a 20-year career that started as a lead singer for David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, Emilio became a red-hot artists in the mid -90s. He and Selena were considered the king and queen of Tejano, both having played the Houston Astrodome for the Houston Rodeo several times. They both won numerous time sat the annual Tejano Music Awards.

Emilio also won a Grammy in 2003 for his CD "Acuerdate."

More details as they become available.

On the Net:
Emilio Navaira and Rio: http://www.emilioyrio.net

If you have questions or comments, please leave them here.
And if you have Emilio stories and or photos to share, please email mailto:rburr@express-news.net
We'll post them ASAP.

Check back here:

Emilio Navaira in critiical condition after accident

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Coming up:
More weekender activities
Juanes swinging by on tour

We're headed into a weekender free of festivals but there's still enough action to keep things interesting.

First up is Marcos Orozco doing a tagteam with Eddie Gonzalez at Graham Central Station on Friday, March 21.

Big cumbia festival coming up Saturday at the Lonestar Saloon in Uvalde. Titled "El Festival Cumbiaso," the event has three bands: Los Reyes De La Cuadra,  Tropa Estrella, Los De La Cumbia. $15 is the price of advanced tickets.

Meanwhile, Los Tovares are touring behind a new album titled "Kickin' It." Los Tovares are scheduled to drop in at the Luckey Rd. Saloon, 17680 IH 35 S. on Friday. And then on Saturday the band plays Cattlemans Square Tavern, 904 W Houston.

And Grupo Maravia is in the spotlight again,playing back at Club Movida on Saturday. Grupo Maravia, led by singer Joe Gutierrez, also has a new CD, "Simply Marvelous," which includes seven originals and the first singles released are "Con Brazos Abiertos" and "Mi Vida Entera."

The rest of Maravia is Leroy Urrabazo, sax; Greg Palacios, bass; Jesse Martinez, guitar; Billy Rodriguez, drums; Johnny Herrera, accordion; Ruben Gonzalez, keyboards.

More later in the week.

 

Coming up:
Concert Calendar 3/18
Hispanic Heritage Society presents 'Bolero Tribute to Maria Grever'
Elida Reyna working on new CD

 

Karma, Border Palace, Leslie Lugo and Grupo Passion are among the new faces with nominations for the 2008 Premios a la Musica Latina.

The nominees were announced at the PLM Fan Fair held Sunday at Sunset Station.More than two dozen bands performed at the Fan Fair Sunday including El Guero y su Banda Centenario, Varonil, Grupo Vida, La Pura Sabrosura, Henry Brun, Shelly Lares, Massizo, Da Krazy Pimpz, Megan Leyva and others.

Border Palace was nominated for Mejor Jazz Latino while Karma was listed among the nominees for Mejor Rock en Español. Lugo was under the Mejor Revelación or best new artists category while Passion grabbed  a nod for Mejor Tropical.
Complete nominees list below.

To continue...click MORE below

(Courtesy) Jesse y Joy headed toward 2008 Grammys.

 

The sibling duo of Jesse y Joy were just looking to have fun with the catchy pop tunes on their debut CD, "Esta es Mi Vida."

But then six months ago, their CD started catching on.

Suddenly, they were thrust into the limelight with a Latin Grammy nomination, impressive sales and national chart positions.

"It's been pretty wild. We never expected any of this to happen," said Joy, 21.

"I think that whenever you do something from the heart, people can feel it and they respond to it."

People certainly have.

Jesse y Joy won best new artist honors at the Latin Grammys and Premios Oye. 

 

And they also received two nominations for the MTV Latinoamerica Awards.

 

*RBD. The red-hot Mexican teen pop group continues it's current tour with a new swing through the US.  The new tour, titled after their latest CD "Empezar desde cero," will last through April. Here's a few dates:

March 1, Las Vegas, NV, Orleans Arena

March 2, Los Angeles, CA, Nokia Theater

March 7, Charlotte, NC, Cricket Arena

March 9, Miami, FL, American Airlines Arena

March 13, Duluth, GA, Gwinnett Arena

March 14, Fairfax, VA, Patriot Center

March 16, Newark, NJ, Prudential Center

March 28, Tucson, AZ, Casino del Sol

March 29, Glendale, AZ, Jobing.com Arena

March 30, El Paso, TX, Don Haskins Center

April 3, Bakersfield, CA, Rabobank Arena

April 4, San Jose, CA, HP Pavilion

April 5, San Bernardino, CA, Hyundai Pavilion

April 6, Chula Vista, CA, Coors Amphitheater

 

*In recent years, Colombian singer/songwriter Juanes has risen to the position of perhaps the most important rock artist in Latin music. Juanes' latest CD is "La Vida...es un Ratico." Juanes will kick off his new "La Vida" world tour in New York City's Madison Square Garden on March 8. Here's a few dates:

 

March 06 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

March 30 Washington, DC Patriot Center

April 02 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena

April 09 Duluth GA, Gwinnett Arena

April 10 Orlando, FL Amway Arena

April 12 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena

May 07 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre

May 09 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre

May 16 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose

 

*The 2008 Tejano Music Awards are set to unfold March 8 at a new venue in San Antonio - Villita Assembly Hall. The People's Choice-style awards recognize the most popular Tejano artists. The awards  will be followed by the always popular, free-admission two-day TMA Fanfair, featuring hundreds of bands from all over the Southwest performing on six stages at Market Square.

 

*SXSW 2008. Austin's major five-day music festival will include several Latino music showcases. At presstime, only upcoming rapper Mala Rodriguez, from Spain, has been confirmed. More details: SXSW.com

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