Chris Perez band is a Grammy winning trio around John Garza, Joe Ojeda and Chris Pérez. In 1999, Resurrection, the first album recorded by Pérez’s newly created band, won a Grammy award in the category of Alternative Latin Rock. Now, after signing with a new record label, Univision Music, the group is launching its second album, Chris Pérez Band, Una Noche Mas, with more ballads and cumbias, and sung mostly in Spanish. “This is a lot different,” he says. “This is more of a reflection of where we came from and what’s going on in Texas and the type of music that you now hear.” A gifted musician, Chris Pérez grew up in urban San Antonio, learning to read music charts as a horn player in junior high school. “My mom and my dad were also in the school marching band when they were young. I think I take after her; she’s the one who signed me up at my school and she wanted for me to play the French horn, which I found really groovy.” It was later, with his guitar, however, that young Pérez discovered a new and incredible way to communicate his thoughts and emotions.

His increasing prowess on the instrument drew him into the glossy world of pop / Tejano, landing a gig as sideman with Selena y los Dinos, and spending six years with that extremely successful band. Venturing out into the music scene, he crossed paths with a charismatic young vocalist named John Garza. The pair connected and Chris realized he’d found someone with whom he could share his musical vision. “I always wanted to be part of a group. We all worked hard, we work together, bouncing ideas at each other. We bonded.” Now that the group has been so successful, The Chris Pérez Band wants to broaden its horizons. “With our first album we’ve been everywhere in the United States, but not abroad; I mean, we never got into Mexico. Now we would like to get there and other countries as well.”

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