Lighting Fuses

For 20 years now, La Sonora Dinamita has been explosive indeed, showering the globe with the infectious Afro-Caribbean rhythms of Colombian cumbia.

The 14-piece band--which has sold more than 20 million records in the United States alone--plays Thursday at J.C. Fandango’s in Anaheim.

Dinamita has been at the forefront of cumbia, modernizing its sound while maintaining its distinctive flavor. “Although cumbia is the foundation of our music,” says Julio Estrada, the band’s 44-year-old maestro, “we have always been open to new ideas, new musical styles.”

In fact, he said during an interview in Los Angeles last week, Dinamita has been working with an English-speaking rapper who may appear on the next album.

“We go through cycles,” Estrada said.

The band was formed in 1960 and--though it was doing very well (especially in Mexico, where it still sells most of its records)--disbanded three years later, staying out of action for 12 years, until founding member Antonio Fuentes assembled a combination of new and original musicians.

The following year--1976--Dinamita broke into the international scene with “Se me perdio la cadenita” (“I lost the chain”). Since then, nearly 40 members have come and gone--and about 100 more hits have made the charts.

The band has produced such giants of tropical music as songwriter Isac Villanueva (“Maruja”), songwriter Calixto Ochoa (“El Africano,” one of the best known cumbia songs) and singer Margarita Vargas, who went on to form her own group, Margarita y Su Sonora.

But the biggest spark over the years has been Estrada--more commonly known as “Fruko,” a nickname he picked up when he was 13 (as a boy, he looked like a popular cartoon character named Fruko who was used to sell Colombian canned goods.)

Estrada “is one of the souls--the essence--of La Sonora Dinamita,” says Monica Guzman, 28, one of five singers in the group. “He gave the band its contemporary sound and style, which remains unique.”

Guzman--who has been with Dinamita for seven years, the longest of anyone except for Estrada--said Estrada’s ear for bass and percussion are what give the band its distinctive but universal sound.

Estrada has developed a style that recalls mambo king Perez Prado’s. His arrangements involve a deep, hip-hop-like bombastic bass layered with piano, a tribal drum chorus and a four-piece horn section.

“Our style seeks to bring forth the rhythms of the West Indies,” he said. “Because Colombia is rich in African tradition, [the music] includes tribal beats that are combined with Spanish literature.

“We draw a little bit from everything,” he continued. “We do everyday songs, ballads with tropical rhythms and songs with a lot of picardia (knavery). But we always retain the elegance of the [Spanish] language.”

“It’s simple music, not complicated,” Guzman assured. “Just like our people.” Most of the lyrics deal with human cat-and-mouse games; most of the rhythms are upbeat, for dancing.

Coinciding with its North American concert tour (which also stops in Alhambra at Caddy’s on Friday night), La Sonora Dinamita is releasing its 24th album, “Cumbia con Sabor,” on Monday. The album includes the group’s latest hit, “El Chupacabras.”

Capitalizing on tales of a frightening “goatsucker” that have captured the public’s imagination in Mexico and Puerto Rico, the song adds a comical twist: The band tells its female listeners that some men out there are just like the night-stalking vampire-like creature, and to beware.

* La Sonora Dinamita plays Thursday at 10:30 p.m. at J.C. Fandango’s, 1086 N. State College, Anaheim. $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (714) 758-1057.