Manzanares Wins Best Latin Album At The 2006 Independent Music Awards

LOS ANGELES (www.manzanaresysol.com) - MANZANARES' "Nuevo Latino" took top honors at the 5th Independent Music Awards with Best Latin Album! This award makes them one the hottest independent latin groups and gives "Nuevo Latino" top billing amongst independent releases in the nation!

Winners are selected from thousands of submissions from around the world. The IMA is an annual music industry contest co-sponsored by the Music Resource Group and Border's Books & Music to recognize excellence in the independent music industry. Winners of this year's program are promoted to more than 7 million music fans and industry professionals via print, radio and online promotions. The IMA's give heightened visibility to artists who work without the benefit of the marketing power of major labels.

Manzanares' Nuevo Latino was selected by a prestigious panel of judges including such distinguished artists and industry professionals as Norah Jones, Melissa Etheridge, Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), George Clinton, Billboard Magazine and many others. This year marked the largest number of album entries the Music Resource Group has received to date, making this a very honorable recognition.

Hot Spanish guitar, sizzling Latin percussion and soulful vocals combine to create a high-energy, and fiery nuevo Latino sound that defines MANZANARES. David and Michael Manzanares, two brothers from New Mexico, lead the 6-piece band. The brother's are surrounded by a powerhouse line-up of some of the most prolific and talented musicians in the country including; the explosive percussion of Mark Clark, the danceable grooves of bass player Jose Romero, the exciting conga playing of Kevin Miller, and Kanoa Kaluhiwa's silky smooth jazz infusions. Their style, "Nuevo Latino" delivers an aggressive approach to the danceable Rumba Flamenca style mixed with an exotic, progressive blend of Rumba, Afro-Cuban rhythms, Soca, and Samba. MANZANARES has been likened to the styles of The Gipsy Kings, Santana, Los Lobos and Ottmar Liebert.