Yahari

In 1990 middle-school students from Nueva Rosita, Coahuila, Mexico, assembled Yahari—whose name comes from the Japanese term for the unforeseen—so they could appear at a neighborhood festival. After signing with a regional imprint, the band delivered its first album, Lo Inesperado, in 1992. Concentrating on cumbia, the Colombian northern coast folk-dance music, Yahari followed with Mensaje en la Luna in 1993 and, the next year, Me Late el Corazon, which contained the hit single “El Negro Bombón.” In 2001 the tropical ensemble transported its infectious up-tempo approach to the U.S. to champion the popular album La Vaca.