Grupo Montez De Durango

Grupo Montéz de Durango or Montéz de Durango is a Duranguense band currently based in Chicago. This group is well known in the United States, Mexico and Central America. Although Grupo Montez de Durango's sound is deeply rooted in the music of traditional Mexican music, it is also influenced by the members' hometown of Chicago. The seven-member group soon became a popular draw at local dance halls. Terrazas was influenced by Tierra Caliente group La Dinastía de Tuzantla. Membership in the group includes leader Jose Luis Terrazas, Daniel Terrazas (drummer and son), Jose Luis Terrazas Jr (Hype Man) and other musicians. Besides covers of older traditional Mexican songs, the group played a faster-paced style of music: a polka-ranchera mix. This musical style became associated with the dance style called "El Pasito Duranguense" (The Durango Step) and Grupo Montéz de Durango was the band most closely identified with it. Terrazas founded his own Terrazas Records label and the band began recording and releasing albums.