Sanz Partnering with Javier Limon to Develop Music Talent Contest “Son of Songs”

Alejandro Sanz is getting real competitive…

The 48-year-oldSpanish singer-songwriter, a 17-time Latin Grammy winner and three-time Grammy winner, is partnering with music producer Javier Limon on an original primetime entertainment format, Son of Songs.

Alejandro Sanz

A music talent contest that celebrates the vast range of styles open to modern artists, Son of Songs will be produced by Mediapro, Gazul Producciones, which represents Sanz, and the Limon’s U.S.-based record production label, Casa Limon.

Son of Songs also marks one of the earliest formats to emerge from Mediapro as its drives into upscale TV production.

With Sanz also taking an executive producer credit, Son of Songs’ format features eight young talents, drawn from different styles of music, who pay tribute to a guest star performing their greatest hits in different styles. The format is based on the idea that the musical idea of any song can be interpreted in any style: Jazz, blues, hip-hop, Latin, dance, or flamenco, Mediapro said in a statement.

Now in development, but with first images and content recorded in Boston by young musicians at its prestigious Berklee College of Music, Son of Songs yokes the talents and channels the music passions of two key Spanish music industry figures who have successfully crossed over to the U.S, and Latin America.

Selling 25 million albums to date, Sanz broke through internationally with 1997’s Mas. Including “Corazón Partío,” it sold two-million-plus copies in Spain, making it the most-sold album in history. It also vindicated a style which, however much based on romantic ballads laced with flamenco tropes, has seen experimented throughout Sanz’s career with fusions of jazz, R & B, soul and pop – an inclusiveness which has led Sanz to record with multiple artists from Alicia Keys to Shakira, Michael Jackson to The Corrs.

The winner of 10 Grammys, Limon’s Casa Limon has presented Lagrimas Negras and Buika, and produced concerts, documentaries and television programs. A producer, composer and performer, the key to his work has been its diversity, in both the geographic origin and styles of the great artists he has collaborated with, from Paco de Lucia, Enrique Morente and Joaquin Sabina in Spain to Cuba’s Bebo Valdés, Mexico’s Chavela Vargas, the U.K.’s Nick Lowe and India’s Anoushka Shankar. He also serves as artistic director at the Berklee College of Music.

Bosé to Pay Tribute to This year’s Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Joan Manuel Serrat

Miguel Bosé is heading back to this year’s Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year tribute event.

The 58-year-old Spanish musician/actor, last year’s honoree, is among the performers set to pay tribute to this year’s Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Joan Manuel Serrat.

Miguel Bose

Bosé joins a roster of performers that includes Panamanian salsa singer Rubén Blades and Puerto Rico’s Calle 13.

The Barcelona-born Serrat will also be in the company of other fellow artists including Peruvian songstress Tania Libertad and singer/songwriter/poet Joaquín Sabina who will gather during a gala and tribute dinner on November 19 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The tribute dinner and concert is being executive produced by Jose Tillan, with Greg Fera serving as the event’s producer. Dan Warner will be the night’s musical director and Gustavo Borner is the audio/mix supervisor.

Last year Bosé was the person of the year and was given musical tributes by Laura Pausini, Ricky Martin, Carlos Vives, Carlos Santana, Juanes and Alejandro Sanz, among others.

Other previous honorees include Shakira, Plácido Domingo, Gloria Estefan, Gilberto Gil, Juan Luis Guerra, Carlos Santana, and Caetano Veloso.

The Steamy Music Video for Cruz & Miguel Bosé’s Duet Released

She’s already earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in the film adaptation of the musical Nine… And Penélope Cruz could soon earn a Grammy nomination.

The 38-year-old Spanish actress – who made her singing debut in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, in a role that earned her another Oscar nomination – appears in a new music video for her critically acclaimed duet with her Spanish compatriot Miguel Bosé.

Penelope Cruz & Miguel Bose

In the black-and-white clip, Cruz – looking quite sensual – and Bosé appear in different hotel rooms, where the actress boasts her sweet voice and throws herself onto the bed dressed in sexy lingerie, while singing “Decirnos Adiós,” a song composed by her brother Eduardo Cruz.

“Penelope sings fabulously and, above all, she has a lot of personality in her voice and enjoys it a lot, something that you can’t say about everyone,” Bosé told Spanish wire service EFE.

Cruz was one of the special guests on Bosé’s most recent album Papitwo, along with the voices of Joaquín Sabina, Juan Luis Guerra, Tiziano Ferro, Dani Martin and Pablo Alborán, who also collaborated on the production.

The album was released in August 2012.

Juanes to Launch North American Tour Next May

Following his highly successful MTV special, Juanes is taking his unplugged show on the road in North America…

The 40-year-old Colombian rockero will be performing  in smaller U.S. and Canadian venues next spring.

Juanes

The U.S. leg of Juanes’ Loud and Unplugged Tour will kick-off on Sunday, May 26 at Humphreys Concerts By the Bay in San Diego. The Colombian singer-songwriter will then continue on to Grand Prairie, Texas; Toronto, and Montreal, and performs at Philadelphia’s historic Trocadero Theatre on June 21. Additional dates in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York and others cities are expected to be announced soon.

The tour follows the success of Juanes MTV Unplugged special, which received five Latin Grammy Award nominations. The Unplugged special, released last May, returned the soul to a spectacular career that Juanes had acknowledged was “at a crossroads.”

“I’m trying to remember who I was,” he said during a Q&A at SXSW last March. “All those dreams and all those ideas I had when I started in music.”

The Loud and Unplugged concerts will echo the intimate yet celebratory tone of the record, on which Juanes is joined by his Latin roots rock band, as well as guests likes tropical music star Juan Luis Guerra, who produced the album, and legendary Spanish balladeer Joaquin Sabina.

Last week, Juanes and Guerra announced that they’ll donate 100% of the proceeds of their previously planned November 24 concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to The American Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Juanes Concert Dates (and Venues):

May 26: San Diego (Humphrey’s Concerts By the Bay)
June 6: Grand Prairie, TX (Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie)
June 15: Toronto, (Massey Hall)
June 16: Montreal (Metropolis)
June 21: Philadelphia (Trocadero Theatre)