Album Notes

With the melting pot of New York City as their barrio, Grupo Fiesta emerged on the scene in 1995. The diverse roots of its members are reflected in the irresistible mix of sounds that surfaces in their music.


As bandleader, Cecilia Villar sees Grupo Fiesta as a vivid reflection of her background: The sultry, sexy, raw sounds of traditional Afro-Latin grooves mixed with powerful electric guitar licks. Growing up in a Hispanic household that reveled in music, dance, art and theater, Cecilia listened to Cuban son with her father, rocked to Led Zeppelin with her older siblings, and used her mother's musical genes when picking up the electric guitar at age 14. Half Lebanese and born in Ecuador, Cecilia draws you in with her songs about the power of love, hope and dreams, and then blows you away with her searing electric guitar.


Led by the songwriter Cecilia Villar, Grupo Fiesta features Cecilia Villar on electric/acoustic guitars. Cindy Padilla, a Nuyorican, entices listeners with her seductive lead vocals and then nails them with her tough Bronx edge. Brian "Bajo Man" Moore lays down driving and hypnotic bass grooves. Classically trained Bronx native, Jimmy Connolly lures you in with traditional Afro-Cuban piano licks. With Dan Roth on Drums and Ray Turull on congas and timbales, the contagious fusion of Grupo Fiesta is complete and can at times be heard echoing down the hall ways of the infamous Eighth Avenue Music Building.


Dan Grigsby, a seasoned engineer in the mainstream pop world, produced Grupo Fiesta's self-titled debut album.


"The highlight of the evening was a performance by Fiesta, a sextet that mixes power pop with Latin music Cecilia Villar played big wah-wah guitar lines. Driven by the keyboards and percussion, the rest of the band spiced the music with hot Santana-flavored samba that set the jampacked room ablaze."
- New York Times