CD Review: A.B. Quintanilla III Presents From Kumbia Kings to Kumbia AllStarz

The first album from the newly formed Kumbia AllStarz is a slick, well-produced showcase for lead vocalist PeeWee (Irvin Salinas). More pop than cumbia, more arranged than grass roots, it's a pleasant, danceable CD. PeeWee fans will love it, while others might miss the evocative, edgier sound of the original Kumbia Kings.

It’s almost impossible to talk about A.B. Quintanilla III Presents From Kumbia Kings to Kumbia AllStarz without comparing the original Kumbia Kings band to the new Kumbia AllStarz. Quintanilla has pulled three members of the original Kumbia Kings into the AllStarz: PeeWee as lead vocalist, Chris Perez on guitar and Gipper on accordion. So you have to wonder, is this going to be the same music, the same arrangements, the same sound – with a handful of new musicians added to the mix?

The answer to that question is mostly no. There are still a lot of tracks that are typical Kumbia Kings material, with their trademark mix of cumbia, pop and r&b. But the arrangements are slicker, with more of a studio produced, pop focused sound than the grass roots cumbia of the original Kings. There’s less traditional accordion and more synthesizer. There are more big production orchestra instrumentals, not surprising with salsa producer/arranger Sergio George adding his distinctive style to the mix. While lead singer PeeWee does fine leading most of the vocals and has nice, smooth group back up, it’s hard not to miss the original Kumbia Kings that employed four big voices to provide strong and edgy harmonies.

The big single on the CD is "Chiquilla" which has been receiving lots of airplay and quickly rising on the charts. There are four version on the track: the original, a salsa, bachata and portuguese version.