The name Buyepongo means “to cause a ruckus” –which certainly describes the scene on the dance floors of Los Angeles whenever the band launches into its dizzyingly energetic, instantly infectious rhythms. But it also describes Buyepongo’s riotous mash-up of influences, which absorbs hip-hop, punk, funk, and jazz sounds into a delirious tropical blend of styles from across the Latin American diaspora. Like its name, the band is part hybrid, part invention, something untranslatable that nevertheless perfectly captures its uniquely vibrant spirit.On their debut album, Todo Mundo, due out January 29, Buyepongo takes their Pan-Latin sound worldwide with a vivid collection of original music that is as hard to pin down as it is to resist.“Our music is going to get you moving and thinking,” says singer and percussionist Edgar “Meshlee” Modesto. “It’ll break you out of your comfort zone and connect you with other folks and cultures....
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The name Buyepongo means “to cause a ruckus” –which certainly describes the scene on the dance floors of Los Angeles whenever the band launches into its dizzyingly energetic, instantly infectious rhythms. But it also describes Buyepongo’s riotous mash-up of influences, which absorbs hip-hop, punk, funk, and jazz sounds into a delirious tropical blend of styles from across the Latin American diaspora. Like its name, the band is part hybrid, part invention, something untranslatable that nevertheless perfectly captures its uniquely vibrant spirit.On their debut album, Todo Mundo, due out January 29, Buyepongo takes their Pan-Latin sound worldwide with a vivid collection of original music that is as hard to pin down as it is to resist.“Our music is going to get you moving and thinking,” says singer and percussionist Edgar “Meshlee” Modesto. “It’ll break you out of your comfort zone and connect you with other folks and cultures. If you come to dance and have a good time you’re going to get that, but if you come to hear great music with a lot of heart and technique, you’re going to get that too. It’s a very unique style.”The members of Buyepongo started playing together as friends in high school, at the time reflecting their early punk rock and hip-hop influences. But after the band’s original incarnation split apart in 2010, Modesto and a few friends embarked on a life-altering backpacking trip through Belize and Guatemala which exposed them to the Afro-Caribbean sounds of the region’s Garifuna culture. “That trip to Central America was really an eye-opener,” Modesto recalls. “I realized that we could do a lot just by changing rhythms and adding our funk and flavor from growing up in L.A. Since then our mission has been to keep improving our sound and creating a new style of music.”The core members of Buyepongo came together shortly after Modesto’s return: multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jorge “Yuka” Vallejo, bassist Randy Modesto(Edgar’s younger brother), and saxophonist Angel Hernandez. The membership of the band, which Vallejo says might be more accurately called a “tribe,” is fluid; on Todo Mundo, the line-up is completed by keyboardist Kris Castro and percussionist Larry Harvey.Since then, Buyepongo has shared the stage with acts such as Quantic, Ondatropica, Ozomatli, Booker T, Celso Piña, Os Mutantes, Sister Nancy, Dead Prez, Cut Chemist, Beatnuts, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Antibalas,and Punta Cartel to name a few. They’ve performed on countless stages, including Grand Park, Levitt Pavillion’s Summer Music Series, Hollywood Forever's Dia De Los Muertos, The Los Angeles Music Center's Los Angeles County Holiday Concert, the Skirball Cultural Center's Family Amphitheater Performances, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
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