Sonorous Present at Getty Center LA 3/16-17

Los Angeles! I’ll be performing at the Getty Center on March 16-17 as part of a beautiful musical project called Sonorous Present, composed and performed by my dear friend, musician/scholar Alex E. Chávez with musical direction by Grammy-award winning producer/musician Quetzal Flores. The event is FREE. Yes FREE. You have to sign up to reserve your tickets HERE.

From the Getty Museum:

“Sounds of LA 2024 launches with an exclusive performance of immersive, poetic music from Alex E. Chávez’s forthcoming album SONOROUS PRESENT. What began as an experimental, collaborative, and improvised performance in Chicago—inspired by the music and poetics of Chávez’s award-winning book Sounds of Crossing—has been subsequently reimagined as a studio album in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer Quetzal Flores. SONOROUS PRESENT offers a never-before-heard blend of Mexican and Latin American folk elements with progressive jazz, poetry, dance, field recordings, and ethnographic songwriting that crosses the sunburst surrealism of America's musical and cultural borderlands.”

The main band will be composed of Alex Chávez (pictured below), and members of the group Quetzal. I’ll be doing my horn thing, flying down from the Bay with a few armloads of saxophones and flutes and percussion and getting in where I fit in. The music is so beautiful. It is an honor to be a part of this, and to be part of the maiden voyage of bringing this to the stage and public. Hope to see you there.

I first met Alex in Southeast Austin in 2003 when I was on a roadtrip from Brooklyn to Michoacan. My friend Adrian Quesada, on one of our many runs around the city, took me to his apartment one day to meet him. Little did I know then that I would be relocating two years later to Austin, and that we’d cross paths many times, whether it was a University of Texas grad student circles that he and my wife ran in, double bills with my Ocote Soul Sounds and his Maneja Beto, or guest appearances on album’s by his group Mitote. The friendship lasted after we both left Austin. He continued on to Chicago to teach and start another great musical project, Dos Santos, which I’ve had the pleasure of making cameo appearances. And now this.

New song: Ocote Soul Sounds "Blues for Ukraine"

How to fully express the deep grief in watching the slow motion buildup of aggression, the growing carnage, the racism that seems to emerge even within crises that should unite? Sometimes peace feels like further away than ever. Yet we persist.

New Single / Video by Martez: "Don't Make Me Wait"

Buy at bandcamp http://martez.bandcamp.com

Stream on major platforms here: https://share.amuse.io/V4UvcTaZMf9z

New Music: Martez

Once upon a time a young man would walk along on the bayou. He followed a princess to the cold north, where he was trapped in a barn. The princess cast a spell and released him. He followed the sun to where it swims in the water.

I had a lot of time to myself during the pandemic, away from the musical mobs I have worked with for the past 25 years. I’ll be back with them for more, but in the meantime, enjoy these sounds.

New Music: Ocote Soul Sounds "Sal Si Puedes"

“Get out if you can”, is the best translation. A lot of things to get out of, a lot of things to get into. I wrote this and played the instruments, drums, bass, clarinets, flute, saxophones. My inspirations on this were Yusuf Lateef, Cymande, and RZA. Enjoy the vibe, and stay safe.

New Music: "Lamentos"

Hey world. I hope you are safe and sound and protecting yourself and your loved ones.

I’ve been working in a new lane of data sonification (turning datasets and numbers into sound).

This is related to that, but turning feelings into sound. It’s a series called Lamentos - quick improvisations, and snapshots of how I’m feeling and what vibes I’m absorbing on any particular day as we get deeper into this global crisis.

It is called Lamentos. A lamento (lament in English) is an expression of grief.

Summer 2016 Performances

• July 12: Lowdown Hudson Music Festival (Brookfield Place, NYC) with Antibalas and the Roots (FREE)
• July 15: SESC Pompeia Choperia (São Paulo, Brazil) with Antibalas
• July 17: Instrumenta Brasilia Festival (Parque da Cidade, Brasilia, BR) with Antibalas
• July 22: Amsterdam Bar and Grill (St. Paul, MN) with Antibalas (Info/Tickets)
• July 29: Lincoln Center Out of Doors (Lincoln Ctr, NYC) with Antibalas, in collaboration with Davido. (FREE)
• August 10: Brooklyn Bowl (Brooklyn) with Ocote Soul Sounds, opening for Brownout.

New Ocote Soul Sounds 45 out TODAY!

I made some new music with Ocote Soul Sounds! This 45 single with the songs "A Pesar La Vida" and "Not Yet" with Chico Mann and Quantic.

"A Pesar La Vida" featuring Chico Mann on vocals, is dedicated to immigrants, past and present, looking for something better amidst all obstacles.

Thanks to Nicodemus and the Wonderwheel Recordings family for putting this out.

Click on the pic above to buy, or below to listen: