CAFÉ TACUBA PREVIEWS NEW MATERIAL; GROOVE ARMADA MAKES ONLY U.S. APPEARANCE

SUNDAY, JULY 15, AT 7 PM

Concert sponsored by Dos Equis. Exclusive Spanish language media sponsor: Univision 34/Telefutura 46

Mexico City-based, rock-en-español pioneer Café Tacuba returns to the Hollywood Bowl, and London's electronica duo, Groove Armada, makes its Bowl debut on Sunday, July 15, at 7 p.m., as part of the KCRW World Festival. Café Tacuba performs new material in support of its sixth full-length studio album due out in September, and Groove Armada gives U.S. fans their first live taste of their recent release, Soundboy Rock, in a rare appearance featuring a fulll ive band. Nic Harcourt, KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic host and music director, hosts.

Café Tacuba is the preeminent band to rise from the rock-en-español movement, possessing a stylistic diversity inspired by their roots - the musical and cultural influences within the emerging middle class of the State of Mexico's American-inspired suburbs. Café Tacuba rocks the Bowl with a performance that includes selections from their upcoming September release, their first studio release since the Grammy award-winning Cuantra Caminos (2003).

Groove Armada makes a stateside stop in the midst of a European tour for its only U.S. appearance and Hollywood Bowl debut. Featuring guitar, percussion, keyboards, singers and a full visual production, this is Groove Armada's first full live show in the U.S. in over five years. Touring in support of Soundboy Rock, their first release since 2003's chart-topping Lovebox, Groove Armada gives U.S. fans a live taste of the London-born beats that have developed into an infectious, international groove.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association partners with KCRW for the ninth consecutive year to present KCRW's World Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. After a record-breaking 2006 season, the series continues to offer one-of-a-kind performances with renowned artists from across the musical globe.

Remaining 2007 World Festival concerts include:

• On Sunday, July 29, Spirit of Armenia! brings together a large group of distinguished local and international Armenian artists. Acclaimed leaders of modern Armenian pop music, Adiss, Andy, Silva Hakobyan and Sako, make their Hollywood Bowl debuts. Musician and composer Djivan Gasparyan performs Armenian folk music playing the duduk, the traditional woodwind instrument of Armenia. Gasparyan is a master of the duduk, having dedicated over 50 years of his life to studying the instrument. Winds of Passion, comprised of some of the most accomplished duduk players in the world today, performs as a duduk quartet, the first of its kind. Young tenor Hovhannes Shahbazyan sings Armenian traditional folk and gousan music, and classical pianist and composer Vatché Mankerian also performs a specially arranged composition of Armenian folk and classical repertoire. Los Angeles-based ensemble, Element Band, draws inspiration from widespread and multicultural sources, resulting in a unique Armenian "folk-fusion" sound. Conductor Roma Kanyan leads a special band created for this Spirit of Armenia! program, which backs the Armenian pop singers in the second half. Zvartnots Dance Ensemble and Vartan & Siranoush Gevorkian Dance Ensemble, dressed in rich, colorful costumes, perform high-energy choreography to both traditional and contemporary Armenian music.

• Now in its sixth year, the annual Reggae Night returns on Sunday, August 12, welcoming back to the Hollywood Bowl one of the most respected roots artists in history, Burning Spear. Since his 1969 debut recording "Door Peep" for the legendary Studio One label, Burning Spear continues to produce records that evoke the struggle, passion and strength of Rastafarian culture. Also hailing from Jamaica, the prolific drum and bass duo Sly & Robbie and The Taxi Gang make their Bowl debut, accompanied by acclaimed vocalist Horace Andy, last heard at the Hollywood Bowl with Massive Attack, and dancehall songstress Cherine Anderson. The Wailing Souls, reuniting after a 22-year absence, open the show.

• Macy Gray returns to the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, August 26, in support of Big, her first release in nearly four years. Zap Mama, whose acclaimed signature sound blends soul, gospel, pygmy song and Afro-cuban rhythms, also performs for their only scheduled appearance in Southern California. Making their debut and opening the show is Brazilian Girls, an all-male ensemble with the exception of multilingual (but not Brazilian) front woman Sabina Scuibba.

• Leading the dance world with their inspired mix of dub, techno, and classic house, the UK's Underworld promise an epic evening on Sunday, September 9, as they showcase their new record at the Hollywood Bowl. Joining Underworld for this evening of electronica heavyweights is Paul Oakenfold, one of the most important DJ artists in modern club culture, and Carmen Rizzo, a Grammy-nominated producer, composer, and remixer who adds Persian influences to the DJ set.

CAFÉ TACUBA - (Rubén Albarrán (who's changed his stage name repeatedly through the group's evolution), José Alfredo ("Joselo") Rangel Enrique ("Quique"), and Emmanuel ("Meme") del Real) - set out to make their mark in the budding Mexico City local rock scene in the late '80s, where they absorbed the influence of the Cuban percussion-infused sound of Ritmo Peligroso (the city's first punk rockers), the nationalistic satire of the seminal Charrock'n'rollers Botellita de Jérez, and the wordy compositions of Jaime López (the Mexican Leonard Cohen, for lack of a Dylan). Taking a cue from the Violent Femmes, one of their Anglo faves, Café Tacuba exchanged its proud electric instruments for a gut-stringed Mexican-made acoustic and a full-size double bass of dubious ancestry. Café Tacuba's 1992 critically acclaimed, eponymous debut album was followed by 1994's groundbreaking Re, leading to critical praise and White Album comparisons in terms of the album and the band's importance. Avalancha de Éxitos, Café Tacuba's last collection of cover songs, spawned several hit songs, and a 13-country/59-date megatour, and then in 1999, the band released a 2-CD package: the instrumental Revés paired with Yo Soy, which won a Grammy for Best Latin Rock Album. After the 2001 release of the box set Lo Esencial de Café Tacuba, their latest studio release is Cuatro Caminos, which won another Grammy in 2004. The group also released two live albums in 2005: Un Viaje, documenting their 15th anniversary concert, and MTV Unplugged, which had been recorded in 1995.

GROOVE ARMADA can't help but create songs that burst out of studio and spread all over the place. At The River, If Everybody Looked The Same, Superstylin', I See You Baby - these are towering songs of our times. Since first meeting in 1995, they've taken their revved-up live show round the world several times, made four albums that reinvented the house music wheel, and played fast and loose with other genres besides. They've been Grammy nominated, and everyone from Elton John to the Ibizan massive singing their praises. Their Best Of… had flown off the shelves. Soundboy Rock, their fifth studio album, features a roll-call of superlative talents. It's a testament to Groove Armada's core visionary genius that it all flows together like one seamless whole. Like the seasoned DJs they are, Ancy Cato and Tom Findlay know that context is everything - that the highest high can be made higher still, that the mellowest pull-it-back moment can still pack a mighty punch. And if you can shape all that into one album, you might be onto something: a record that'll have you pogoing in a field, rocking on the sofa or bouncing off the walls in a club.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 39th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2007, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the third year in a row at the 18th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

SUNDAY, JULY 15 at 7 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

KCRW World Festival

In order of appearance:

CAFÉ TACUBA

GROOVE ARMADA

Nic Harcourt, host

Concert sponsored by Dos Equis. Exclusive Spanish language media sponsor: Univision 34/Telefutura 46

Tickets ($7 - $95) are on sale now at HollywoodBowl.com, at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office (Tuesday - Saturday, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.), or by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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