Jorge Reyes (musician)
Encyclopedia
Jorge Reyes was a Mexican
ambient
electronic music
ian who incorporated elements of his native Mexican culture into his music. He performed as the member of several groups and collaborations (most notably with Steve Roach) and as a solo artist
The Mexican Reyes should not be confused with the Cuban bassist Jorge Reyes, the Cuban author Jorge Ivan Reyes
, the Brooklyn television writer Jorge A. Reyes, or the Oregon baseball player Jorge Reyes.
, or UNAM) 1970–1975, studying the flute. During this time, he formed two seminal Mexican rock bands, Al Universo and Nuevo México, influenced by Jethro Tull
and Pink Floyd
but incorporating native musical instruments. In 1976, his growing interest in jazz
led to spending a year in Hamburg
, Germany
, studying improvisation with Herb Geller
. As part of this training he traveled through Turkey
, Pakistan
, Afghanistan
, and Sri Lanka
. In 1978, he attended a Hindu music course in the Himalayas
, studying traditional Indian flute and percussion techniques. On these overseas trips, he began collecting many native instruments.
After returning to Mexico, Reyes founded the band Chac Mool with drummer Armando Suárez and keyboardist Carlos Alvarado, one of the first Mexican progressive rock
bands. The band recorded four well-received albums, on which Reyes played flute and guitar, before disbanding.
In 1985, Reyes began a prolific solo career. He collaborated with several other new age and electronic musicians, including American synthesist Steve Roach, Mexican singer and multi-instrumentalist Arturo Meza
(of the band Decibel), Spanish guitarist Suso Saiz, Mexican percussionist Juan Carlos López, German synthesist Elmar Schulte (of the band Solitaire), Deep Forest
, and others.
Reyes's music was used frequently in Mexican radio and television programs. He performed many concerts at famous Mexican archeological sites such as Malinalco
, Teotihuacan
, Templo Mayor, Chichen Itza
, and Tenango del Valle
. His annual Día de Muertos
concerts at UNAM were popular events. He also gave many concerts at the Espacio Escultórico de Ciudad Universitaria, collaborating with dancer and choreographer Regina Quintero.
Reyes died Saturday, February 7, 2009, of a heart attack at his recording studio in Mexico City
. He was 57 years old. He had three children—Citlalli, Ridwan (with Ursula Kipp), and Erendira (with Ariane Pellicer).
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
ian who incorporated elements of his native Mexican culture into his music. He performed as the member of several groups and collaborations (most notably with Steve Roach) and as a solo artist
The Mexican Reyes should not be confused with the Cuban bassist Jorge Reyes, the Cuban author Jorge Ivan Reyes
Jorge Reyes
Jorge Reyes is a Cuban-born, American author known for authoring books in several genres. He is an honor graduate of Barry University, from which he received a B.A...
, the Brooklyn television writer Jorge A. Reyes, or the Oregon baseball player Jorge Reyes.
History
Reyes was born on September 24, 1952, in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico. He attended the National School of Music, Mexico (Escuela Nacional de Musica de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoNational Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
, or UNAM) 1970–1975, studying the flute. During this time, he formed two seminal Mexican rock bands, Al Universo and Nuevo México, influenced by Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
but incorporating native musical instruments. In 1976, his growing interest in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
led to spending a year in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, studying improvisation with Herb Geller
Herb Geller
Herb Geller , is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger.His musical abilities could have been inherited from his mother, Francis. She worked at the Hollywood neighbourhood cinemas playing piano, accompanying silent movies...
. As part of this training he traveled through Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. In 1978, he attended a Hindu music course in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, studying traditional Indian flute and percussion techniques. On these overseas trips, he began collecting many native instruments.
After returning to Mexico, Reyes founded the band Chac Mool with drummer Armando Suárez and keyboardist Carlos Alvarado, one of the first Mexican progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands. The band recorded four well-received albums, on which Reyes played flute and guitar, before disbanding.
In 1985, Reyes began a prolific solo career. He collaborated with several other new age and electronic musicians, including American synthesist Steve Roach, Mexican singer and multi-instrumentalist Arturo Meza
Arturo Meza
Arturo Meza is a Mexican songwriter, musician, composer, singer, poet and writer. He is a prolific artist and inventor of musical instruments, such as the teclaedro, yeloguerlizet, mezáfono and oglio. The base of his songs is folk music, usually only his own voice and guitar...
(of the band Decibel), Spanish guitarist Suso Saiz, Mexican percussionist Juan Carlos López, German synthesist Elmar Schulte (of the band Solitaire), Deep Forest
Deep Forest
Deep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats...
, and others.
Reyes's music was used frequently in Mexican radio and television programs. He performed many concerts at famous Mexican archeological sites such as Malinalco
Malinalco
Malinalco is a town and municipality located 65 kilometers south of the city of Toluca in the south of the western portion of the Mexico State. Malinalco is 115 km southwest Mexico City....
, Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
, Templo Mayor, Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
, and Tenango del Valle
Tenango del Valle
The municipality of Tenango del Valle and its seat, Tenango de Arista, are located in the southern portion of the Valley of Toluca in Mexico State, about 72 km southwest of Mexico City and 25 km south of Toluca. While the seat is officially named Tenango de Arista, it is more commonly...
. His annual Día de Muertos
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality...
concerts at UNAM were popular events. He also gave many concerts at the Espacio Escultórico de Ciudad Universitaria, collaborating with dancer and choreographer Regina Quintero.
Reyes died Saturday, February 7, 2009, of a heart attack at his recording studio in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. He was 57 years old. He had three children—Citlalli, Ridwan (with Ursula Kipp), and Erendira (with Ariane Pellicer).
Solo
- Ek-Tunkúl (1983)
- A La Izquierda Del Colibri (1985)
- Comala (with Arturo Meza & La Tribu) (1986)
- Viento De Navajas (1987)
- Crónica De Castas (with Suso Saiz) (1990)
- Mexican Music: Prehispanico (1990)
- Niérika (1990)
- UAISCM4: Tlaloc (with Francisco LópezFrancisco López (musician)Francisco López is an avant-garde experimental musician and sound artist.He has released a large amount of sound pieces with record labels from more than fifty countries and realized hundreds of concerts and sound installations worldwide; including some of the main international museums, galleries...
) (1991) - Bajo El Sol Jaguar (with Suso Saiz) (1992)
- El Costumbre (1993)
- Mexican Music: Prehispanic Music for the Forgotten Spirits (1994)
- Mexican Music: Prehispanic Mystic Rites (1994)
- The Flayed God (1994)
- Tonami (1995)
- Mort Aux Vaches (1996)
- Mexican Music: Prehispanic Rituals (1996)
- La Otra Conquista (soundtrack) (2000)
- Pluma De Piedra (2002)
- El Dios Desollado (2003?)
with Suspended Memories (Steve Roach & Suso Saiz)
- Forgotten Gods (1993, Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - Earth Island (1994, Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - Twilight Earth: Second International Soirée (various artists) (1995)
- Vine ~ Bark & SporeVine ~ Bark & SporeVine ~ Bark & Spore is a collaborative album by ambient musicians Steve Roach and Jorge Reyes.There is a uniquely haunting, ethereal atmosphere to this album...
(2000)
with Chac Mool
- Nadie en Especial (1980)
- Sueños de Metal (1981)
- Cintas en Directo (1982)
- Caricia Digital (1983)
- 25 Aniversario Box Set (compilation) (2005)