Elektro Kumbia

Modern dance music/pop octet Elektro Kumbia is the brainchild of songwriter, conceptualist, bassist, and producer A.B. Quintanilla III, brother of the late pop star Selena. After the initial split of his hitmaking Kumbia Kings in 2006 (they reunited briefly for a tour in 2009-2010), he formed the Kumbia All Starz, who released the hit Ayer Fue Kumbia Kings, Hoy Es Kumbia All Starz, which hit number one on the Top Latin Albums chart as well as the Top 200. The group issued four more studio albums as well as a live set before splitting in 2014, though Quintanilla continued his writing and production work with other artists. In June 2016 he announced he had signed to Del Records and formed the cross-genre Elektro Kumbia with vocalists Zuriel Ramirez, Alfonso Ramirez, and Ramon Vargas, percussionist/vocalist Liz Juarez, drummer Saul Cisneros, and guitarist Ruben Rea. After two pre-release singles in early 2017 -- the tropical cumbia pop of "Pina Colada Shot" and the steamy "La Aventura," featuring reggaeton's Saga y Sonyc -- Del issued A.B. Quintanilla III y Elektro Kumbia at the end of June to universally positive reviews. ~ Thom Jurek