"The only thing I can say about these musicians is that they will blow your minds.......this will change EVERYTHING"
TEATRO ARROYO THEATER STREAM co founder Ralph Waxman
TEATRO ARROYO THEATER STREAM co founder Ralph Waxman
PRESS
IXONEZTLI/GARCIA
LOST TRIBES PRODUCTIONS
THE INFINITE EXPANSION OF SOUND
as experienced
5/9/SA/2015
@
CENTER FOR PUBLIC ARTS HIGHLAND PARK
LOS ANGELES, CA
USA
The stage is filled with beautiful instruments of Meso America, Mexico and Beyond -
2 large drums carved out of a single tree trunk stand side by side, large suspended drums with tassels of different colors, with hand painted designs of stars within stars and dots around them, suspended seashells and metals (?), bowls filled with water and gourds floating in them, huge slit drums with beautiful carvings, gongs of assorted sizes, flutes, whistles, and ocarinas of all shapes, sizes and materials including wood, bamboo, and clay, long gourd trumpets, conch shells and more.
This is before any musician has set foot onto the stage
- our eyes are filled with wonder but, what will it sound like?
IXONEZTLI/GARCIA - THE INFINITE EXPANSION OF SOUND
are introduced by TEATRO ARROYO THEATER STREAM co founder Ralph Waxman
"The only thing I can say about these musicians is that they will blow your mind.......this will change EVERYTHING...."
They step onto the stage, one of them is of slight build, almost elfin like, and has white face and body paint on, not really sure if it is Meso American, but definitely other worldly. The other musician wears no make up but they are both dressed in white. They slowly make their way thru the maze of instruments and a clarion call is sounded and the room is filled with an explosion of SOUNDS of metal, wood, and clay which resonate, and surface and re surface and bubble up in and around each other, and a huge wall of noise and sound coming from everywhere fills the room and what sounds like tape manipulations?
(They later tell me that everything was done LIVE without pre-records, sequencers or sound men tricks.)
AMAZING
The MUSIC, the SOUNDS, the NOISE ebbs and flows, the cacophony dissolves into a relentless groove played on the 2 largest drums by Garcia, first with hands and then with large mallets, and as the music intensifies IXONEZTLI (the musician in face and body paint) dances and jumps around the stage, playing flutes and speaking , singing and screaming in a language or languages that I do not recognize, (more on that later) but he seems to be speaking to me and everyone else, and as quickly as the music evolved into this giant groove it comes to a dead halt.
How?
Not quite sure, no visual signs or aural signs were given or none that I recognized.
Yet they stop at exactly the same time.
The silence they make is almost as deafening as the SOUND they created and now they are playing so quietly that we can hear each other breathe and IXONEZTLI starts speaking, (in tongues??) not quite sure. Imagine the Art Ensemble of Chicago meets Weather Report and instead of improvisers with a jazz background, these guys share a palette of Meso American instruments, culture and ancestral symbology.
The MUSIC, the SOUND and THE SILENCE are relentless, and they play non stop for 70 minutes or so as we are taken thru a roller coaster of emotions with each transition.
No announcements of any kind were given during the performance, and they moved from one set of instruments to another and another and took us to worlds we have never heard or heard of before.
One of my favorite moments was when IXONEZTLI plays a very long clay double flute and Garcia came out from behind his arsenal of percussion and played gourd drums filled with water. The sounds were not familiar at all, and when I close my eyes it is as if I am in a giant cave in the belly of MESO AMERICA, and this moment yet again dissolves into another musical/magical event, some 20 aural, visual, theatrical events occurred during the space of the performance
Immediately after the performance while mingling thru the crowd I hear the following descriptions :
"Incredible"
"intense"
"nightmarish"
"indescribable"
"fantastic"
"frenzied"
"frenetic"
"other worldly"
"absolutely ancestral sounds."
"Beautiful!"
"Scary!"
"Shocking!"
"Intriguing!"
"Passionate!"
"Frightening!"
"Intense"
"never knew what was coming next, totally unexpected, playful, inventive, tribal, and ominous, a tremendous experience"
I guess you had to have been there.
If you find that they are winding their way thru your town, village, city, or country
you need to go and EXPERIENCE the universe of
THE INFINITE EXPANSION OF SOUND
You will be transformed…………
AURELIANO
THE EVENT WAS SPONSORED BY
Teatro Arroyo//Theater Stream
and the
Arroyo Arts Collective
and was a gift to the community
LOST TRIBES PRODUCTIONS
THE INFINITE EXPANSION OF SOUND
as experienced
5/9/SA/2015
@
CENTER FOR PUBLIC ARTS HIGHLAND PARK
LOS ANGELES, CA
USA
The stage is filled with beautiful instruments of Meso America, Mexico and Beyond -
2 large drums carved out of a single tree trunk stand side by side, large suspended drums with tassels of different colors, with hand painted designs of stars within stars and dots around them, suspended seashells and metals (?), bowls filled with water and gourds floating in them, huge slit drums with beautiful carvings, gongs of assorted sizes, flutes, whistles, and ocarinas of all shapes, sizes and materials including wood, bamboo, and clay, long gourd trumpets, conch shells and more.
This is before any musician has set foot onto the stage
- our eyes are filled with wonder but, what will it sound like?
IXONEZTLI/GARCIA - THE INFINITE EXPANSION OF SOUND
are introduced by TEATRO ARROYO THEATER STREAM co founder Ralph Waxman
"The only thing I can say about these musicians is that they will blow your mind.......this will change EVERYTHING...."
They step onto the stage, one of them is of slight build, almost elfin like, and has white face and body paint on, not really sure if it is Meso American, but definitely other worldly. The other musician wears no make up but they are both dressed in white. They slowly make their way thru the maze of instruments and a clarion call is sounded and the room is filled with an explosion of SOUNDS of metal, wood, and clay which resonate, and surface and re surface and bubble up in and around each other, and a huge wall of noise and sound coming from everywhere fills the room and what sounds like tape manipulations?
(They later tell me that everything was done LIVE without pre-records, sequencers or sound men tricks.)
AMAZING
The MUSIC, the SOUNDS, the NOISE ebbs and flows, the cacophony dissolves into a relentless groove played on the 2 largest drums by Garcia, first with hands and then with large mallets, and as the music intensifies IXONEZTLI (the musician in face and body paint) dances and jumps around the stage, playing flutes and speaking , singing and screaming in a language or languages that I do not recognize, (more on that later) but he seems to be speaking to me and everyone else, and as quickly as the music evolved into this giant groove it comes to a dead halt.
How?
Not quite sure, no visual signs or aural signs were given or none that I recognized.
Yet they stop at exactly the same time.
The silence they make is almost as deafening as the SOUND they created and now they are playing so quietly that we can hear each other breathe and IXONEZTLI starts speaking, (in tongues??) not quite sure. Imagine the Art Ensemble of Chicago meets Weather Report and instead of improvisers with a jazz background, these guys share a palette of Meso American instruments, culture and ancestral symbology.
The MUSIC, the SOUND and THE SILENCE are relentless, and they play non stop for 70 minutes or so as we are taken thru a roller coaster of emotions with each transition.
No announcements of any kind were given during the performance, and they moved from one set of instruments to another and another and took us to worlds we have never heard or heard of before.
One of my favorite moments was when IXONEZTLI plays a very long clay double flute and Garcia came out from behind his arsenal of percussion and played gourd drums filled with water. The sounds were not familiar at all, and when I close my eyes it is as if I am in a giant cave in the belly of MESO AMERICA, and this moment yet again dissolves into another musical/magical event, some 20 aural, visual, theatrical events occurred during the space of the performance
Immediately after the performance while mingling thru the crowd I hear the following descriptions :
"Incredible"
"intense"
"nightmarish"
"indescribable"
"fantastic"
"frenzied"
"frenetic"
"other worldly"
"absolutely ancestral sounds."
"Beautiful!"
"Scary!"
"Shocking!"
"Intriguing!"
"Passionate!"
"Frightening!"
"Intense"
"never knew what was coming next, totally unexpected, playful, inventive, tribal, and ominous, a tremendous experience"
I guess you had to have been there.
If you find that they are winding their way thru your town, village, city, or country
you need to go and EXPERIENCE the universe of
THE INFINITE EXPANSION OF SOUND
You will be transformed…………
AURELIANO
THE EVENT WAS SPONSORED BY
Teatro Arroyo//Theater Stream
and the
Arroyo Arts Collective
and was a gift to the community
LUIS PEREZ IXONEZTLI
"Dramatic themes are laced with solo flute, guttural incantations, harmonic chants and effectual sonic seasonings created by myriad pre-Columbian instruments. Suspended Spheres is certainly Luis’ finest work to date. A living historical audio document contained within a multi-dimensional listening experience, it is also a powerful echo of ancient culture created by a modern artist who is a master of his craft." EUROCK.COM "The musical approach of Pérez Ixoneztli, for whom his work has never been conventional, enter the collection of the National Sound Archive and the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta) of Mexico. For the musician, his work is marked by Mexican culture, ancestral cultures and language of modern society, as well as their needs and wants. Regarding his work as introducer of this class of instruments in contemporary music, said that "The identification and distinction of these is very important, as well as their approach from an ethnomusicological and arqueomusicológico view." ELUNIVERSAL.COM "The presence of percussionist and musical shaman Luis Perez Ixoneztli (from Mexico) made the difference in some cases, adding color and vigor, transforming sheer virtuosic displays into dramatic explorations of the magic of world music. His remarkable collection of pre-Columbian winds, whistles and percussion, his strong vocals and dramatic costuming are clearly vital to the recording and, especially, the live performance achievements of Strunz & Farah." LA TIMES - LIVE CONCERT REVIEW "Pérez is a master of dozens of instrumental techniques" Mark Swed LOS ANGELES TIMES "Versatile enough to handle whatever is needed for him to do" Jon Pepper WHAT'S UP MAGAZINE "Luis Pérez transforms sheer virtuosity displays into dramatic explorations of the magic of music" Don Heckman LOS ANGELES TIMES "No less than a cultural treasure, his pioneering work has shed much light on the music of early Mesoamerica. " Tom Schnabel CAFE LA WEST COAST "Infinitely more convincing than most of the pseudo-primitive concoctions... I've heard" Allan Rich LA WEEKLY "I feel safe in saying that there has never been another album recorded like this one. It is an absolute masterwork. Listen to the music, discover the power of ancient music and the sounds they can conjure, experience the past and the present come together in a fascinating audio-visual way." MUSIC AND SECOND CULTURE POST MILLENIUM "Luis Perez Ixoneztli, he's been on the music scene for many years, recording with Kitaro, Yes singer Jon Anderson, film composer James Horner, and the world fusion group, Huayucaltia. You can hear these influences in his music, which imbeds his Pre-Columbian instruments in lush arrangements with synthesizers, strings, guitars, and accordions. Perez evokes folkloric themes on "Sleeping Woman" and "Temple of Inscriptions," and crafts imagistic landscapes on "Sacred Mountain" and "Lunar Dance." Perez believes that astral travelers have visited us on Earth, but his music creates its own alien designs, born out of antiquity." PULSE MAGAZINE John Diliberto Host of "Echoes" radio show-East coast |
CHRISTOPHER GARCIA
"Percussionist Chris Garcia nearly stole the show with his musical antics, beating on the cajon with a bare ankle, slapping cymbals with his hands, sending chipped bits of his mallets flying into the air, and even using his body as a percussion instrument." SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE "Christopher Garcia, plays indigenous instruments such as turtle shells and clay flutes in the production of LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE, DIOS INANTZIN........The East L.A. native travels the world with different ensembles but clears his calendar each December to take part in the cathedral's annual presentation." LOS ANGELES TIMES "Chris Garcia is a most uncommon percussionist. He’s an ace trap drum player; his work with the Frank Zappa repertory band, the Grand Mothers of Invention is known for precise execution of difficult time signatures at blazing tempos; and he’s a hand percussionist with a deep background in Indian and Latin American music. No mere timekeeper, he always seems to elevate whatever musical situation situation he finds himself in." PASADENA WEEKLY "Christopher Garcia is one of those musicians who always seems to be on stage when amazing things are happening. In addition to teaching all over the world, he's played with a jaw-dropping who's-who of musical luminaries, not the least of which is his gig as drummer with The Grand Mothers, original members of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Although he's a phenomenal drummer, he may be best known as a master of Vedic percussion techniques and, specifically, the tabla. LONG BEACH POST "We’re most grateful to our good friend - and superb musician - Christopher García, a Los Angeles based percussionist who plays MEXICA percussion instruments in various settings e.g., traditional, symphonic and world musics, and a keen historian, for this intriguing look at some unusual stringed instruments.......not only a highly talented and creative musician but a studious researcher on the indigenous music of Mexico, for creating this wonderful video........Christopher García gives a virtuoso solo performance on pre-Hispanic musical instruments…........ MEXICOLORE " percussionist Garcia just kicked my ears down Broadway. He sat cross-legged, almost hidden behind his unique drum kit, coaxing complex rhythms from hand drums and adding subtle colors on shakers, cymbals, cowbell and jam blocks. During his "Curanderos y Brujos" Garcia's mbwata, a Nigerian clay drum broke apart. Talk about an explosive solo." SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS "Besides his own trademark, Garcia has mastered many styles from former Zappa drummers like Aynsley Dunbar and Chester Thompson and is inspired by many drummers, hand percussion and mallet influences. As an unexpected and very curious and innovative way Christopher Garcia played a marvellous drum solo as introduction to ‘T’Mershi Duween. Garcia, as humble as he is, showed an unknown, at least for me, part of his genuine musicianship. Playing drum parts while singing Tabla based structures, synchronous and asynchronous. This was really amazing.”. THE BLUES ALONE.NL "Starting off with a drum solo/scat singing composition by Garcia, the band plunged into a succession of Zappa tunes, with force and enthusiasm.....The massively accomplished drummer is the bands powerful engine." ARCATA EYE "His work in fusion music with CONTINUUM puts Garcia in a league with Billy Cobham." RANDOM LENGTHS "Behind the drums, the beefy cragster with the bushy ponytail turns out to be none other than Christopher Garcia, who has jacked up the expressions of Quarteto Nuevo, Continuum, Alex Cline, Vinny Golia, the Grand Mothers of Invention, Dottie Grossman and your uncle the bartender. " METALJAZZ.COM |