Features
Grupo Fantasma Goes For The Gold
The group will kick off its trek April 19 at the International Festival in Houston, and has dates on the books through mid-September.
Other stops include the Norman Music Festival in Oklahoma (April 26), the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (May 4), Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar in San Antonio, Texas (May 10), the Pachanga Festival in Austin (May 31), Santa Fe Brewing Company in New Mexico (June 5), Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. (June 12), Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, Conn. (June 22), Sun Fest in London, Ontario (July 4-5), and The Earl in Atlanta, Ga. (July 18).
Information on tickets is available through links in the tour section at GrupoFantasma.com.
The band also has a few international festival dates on its schedule, including the Cambridge Folk Festival (August 2) and the International World Beat Festival in Genting, Malaysia (August 9).
Gold, due June 17, is Grupo Fantasma’s third studio album and features guest performances from Maceo Parker, Fania All-Stars‘ Larry Harlow and Greg Boyer (Prince, Parliament/ Funkadelic).
2007 was quite a year for Grupo Fantasma. In addition to working on its new album, the band caught the attention of Prince and began a close working relationship with him during a two month Thursday night stint at the purple one’s Las Vegas nightclub 3121, followed by a performance at his mega-celeb filled Golden Globes after party.
Fantasma opened for Prince in front of 8,000 fans during last year’s Superbowl in Miami and then served as his backup band at several high profile events, including the CBS Superbowl Bash in South Beach, Fla., the ALMA Awards and at London’s O2 Arena during the singer’s August residency.