Some of Raquel Pacheco’s favorite childhood memories are of family trips to Mexico City. The relatives they visited there were deeply religious and, as the cultural anthropologist recalled, not ...

Edmundo Gómez Moreno spent 11 months as a project manager and systems engineer helping NASA build nano-satellites in Mexico. But in 2015, he could not find a job in the U.S. “I had letters of support ...

Once the soundtrack of the working class, cumbia's simple, yet contagious, rhythm absorbed local styles, morphed, and reinvented itself. It has traveled underground through the veins of Latin America ...

"Nowhere else have I heard a rhythm like this, a sound like this,” declares the mega-viral Argentine artist L-Gante, poster child for the new, cannabis-infused musical style born in the favelas that’s ...

This is part of a special series, Cumbia Across Latin America, a visual report across six countries covering the people, places and cultures that keep this music genre alive. All dance was seen as ...

People often say cumbia is one of the best vehicles for communicating the Hispanic culture and identity. While its history can be traced back to African and Germanic influences, Colombia is where this ...

Installation view of Pioneros Vallenatos y Tropicales; The Story of Toño Estrada at LaPau Gallery, 2022 (courtesy LaPau Gallery, photo by Jorge Balleza) LOS ANGELES — A tiny room at the back of a ...

Stay on top of what’s happening in the Bay Area with essential Bay Area news stories, sent to your inbox every weekday. The Bay Bay Area-raised host Ericka Cruz Guevarra brings you context and ...

Get those hips ready to shake and sway because a weeklong celebration of cumbia music is coming to Los Angeles in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. “Cumbia is one of the most listened to forms of ...

POWER OF PRAYER While battling health issues, cumbia music and the band ¿Qiensave? lifted Chuck Prophet’s spirits. (Photo by Kory Thibeault) The songs on Chuck Prophet’s new release, Wake the Dead, ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. “The people were dancing crazy. I ...

Before "Noche de Cumbia" was even a concept, Mario Rodríguez and his wife, Elizabeth, hosted a series of shows featuring Houston musician Gio Chamba, a mixture of electro-psychedelic rock and cumbia — ...