La Mafia

La Mafia is a four-time Grammy Award-winning musical group. It has its roots in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, Texas and has charted a course as a Latin music band.

History

La Mafia was founded in 1980 in Houston, TX. Vocalist Oscar De La Rosa & producer/keyboardist/accordionist Armando Lichtenberger Jr. created an original style that survived various changes in the music industry. The band consists of Tim Ruiz on bass, David de la Garza on keyboards and background vocals, Joe Gonzales on drums and Viktor Pacheco on Guitar in 2007. The band has won 2 Grammys & 2 Latin Grammys was nominated in 2009 for a Latin Grammy for the album Eternamente Romanticos.

La Mafia, seeking to expand their musical horizons, began touring extensively in Mexico and Latin America beginning in the late 1980s. The practice of Mexican-American artists performing in Mexico on a large scale was unheard of before La Mafia. Back home, La Mafia has performed in front of three record-setting crowds at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Houston Astrodome.

Band Members

• Oscar De La Rosa - vocalist
• Armando Lichtenberger Jr. - accordion & keyboards/Producer
• Tim Ruiz - bass
• Joe Gonzales - drums
• Viktor Pacheco - guitar
• David De La Garza - keyboards & background vocals

Former Members

• Leonard Gonzales (brother of Oscar De La Rosa Gonzales) -guitar
• Robert Gonzales - guitar & bass guitar
• Marion Aquilina - guitar
• Israel (Speedy) Villanueva - bass guitar
• Adolf Alonso - bass guitar
• Rudy Martinez - bass guitar
• Tony Rodriguez - drums
• Mario Gonzalez - drums
• Adam Mosqueda - drums
• Michael Aguilar - drums
• Jesse Moreno - Sax
• Jesse Peralez - Sax
• Rick Patino - Sax-Trumpet
• David Flores - Sax

Discography

Since 1993, La Mafia has recorded each of its hits at its own Urbana Recording Studios, including the million-selling Estas Tocando Fuego and Ahora y Siempre. The band has recorded 35 albums and CDs, not including dozens of compilation and greatest hits releases.

Studio albums

• 1980: La Mafia de Oscar y Leonardo Gonzales
• 1981: Only In Texas
• 1982: The Magnificent 7
• 1982: Honey (Cariño)
• 1983: Electrifying
• 1983: Mafia Mania
• 1984: Hot Stuff
• 1985: Neon Static
• 1985: Herencia Norteña
• 1986: La Mafia 1986
• 1987: A Todo Color
• 1988: Amame
• 1989: Xplosiv
• 1990: Enter The Future
• 1990: Con Tanto Amor
• 1991: Estas Tocando Fuego
• 1991: Non-Stop
• 1992: Ahora y Siempre
• 1994: Vida
• 1996: Un millón de rosas
• 1997: En Tus Manos
• 1998: Euforia
• 1999: Momentos
• 2000: Contigo
• 2001: Inconfundible
• 2004: Nube Pasajera
• 2004: Para El Pueblo
• 2008: Eternamente Romanticos
• 2014: Amor y Sexo

Compilations, duets, live albums, etc...

• 1987: La Mafia Live
• 1991: 1991
• 1995: Exitos en Vivo
• 2006: Nuevamente
• 2011: La Mafia Live In The 80s

Awards and recognitions

La Mafia received Grammy Awards for its CDs Un Million de Rosas and En Tus Manos and Latin Grammy Awards for its CDs Para El Pueblo and Nuevamente. It also has received eight Premio Lo Nuestro Awards and 12 Tejano Music Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the latter, numerous Billboard awards and was listed in the top 10 Billboard Latin Artists for the entire decade of the 1990s, ranking La Mafia as the most successful Latin artist Houston has ever produced.

References

External links

• Official website
• La Mafia at AllMusic
• "La Mafia.net". LaMafia.net. Retrieved June 4, 2014.