Los Ángeles Azules on Tour

The timeless cumbia rhythms of Los Ángeles Azules will crisscross El Norte this year. Launched in the early ’80s by a half-dozen siblings of the Mejía Avante family, Los Ángeles Azules (Blue Angels) have surfed wave after wave of Latin music. It’s been a long road, but their romantic take on Mexico’s cumbia sonidera sound remains as popular as ever. Los Ángeles reignited once again last year with Esto sí es cumbia (“This Is Cumbia”), whose twist on original hits by Ha*Ash, Miguel Bose, Gloria Trevi, Yuri and other Latin stars hit the Regional Mexican Albums Top 10. They kicked off 2019 with “Nunca es suficiente” (“It’s Never Enough”), written and sung by Natalia Lafourcade, which became Los Ángeles’ first Regional Mexican chart-topper in 19 years. Live performances with the Mexico City Symphony Orchestra in 2016 demonstrated that cumbia belongs to everyone. But whether accompanied by a symphony or in their usual baker’s-dozen configuration, expect to hear hits like “Cómo te voy a olvidar” (“How Could I Forget You”), “Por el amor a mi madre” (“For the Love of My Mother”) and “El nuevo sonido de la cumbia” (“The New Sound of Cumbia”).

Los Ángeles Azules in Concert

A family affair from the beginning, with more than two dozen albums to their name, Los Ángeles Azules began in 1983 as part of Mexico’s young and rocking onda grupera movement. Formed by the Mejía Avante siblings Elías, Alfredo, José Hilario, Jorge, Cristina and Guadalupe, the band hit its first peak in 1996, when their chart-topping “Inolvidables” went platinum in Argentina, the group’s second home. A new singer, Erick de la Peña, gave the band its biggest hit to date in 2002 with “Por el amor a mi madre” from the album Alas al mundo (“Wings to the World”).

Los Ángeles’ most recent surge began in 2013 with the album Cómo te voy a olvidar, an updated re-recording of the group’s hits with guest vocalists including Carla Morrison, Lila Downs and Ximena Sariñana. And while the band’s foundation in cumbia sonidera’s ratcheting guïra rhythm and lilting accordion will never disappear, Los Ángeles Azules took their music to another level in 2016 with De plaza en plaza: Cumbia sinfónica, a glorious powerhouse blend of rootsy cumbia and sophisticated strings.