COMPOSITIONS REVIEWS

COMPOSITION REVIEWS
&
WHIRLED MUSIC

VENEZUELA
"When I met Christopher García at the LATIN AMERICAN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
in San Francisco, as he rehearsed and played one of his pieces for ancestral Mexican percussion instruments and wind quintet, I rediscovered something
I had somehow lost track of throughout the years:
a musician rooted in the rituals of magical performance.
Beyond the external aspects of power, virtuosity or any other relative term
of comparison, there was something unique coming across, akin to a religious
experience, through his beats and rhythms.
I think Christopher is definitely on the path of connecting
the objects he strikes or shakes with the deeper currents of the soul.
That's what I felt when he played;
he's not only resuscitating old instruments,
he's on a different search."
COMPOSER PAUL DESENNE

USA
“the music this gentleman creates is organic, while at the same time being virtuosic,
and compelling on many different levels....Garcia's compositions combine musical
sonorities and timbres of the ancients with the present to create new resonances,
timbres, and sonorities previously unimagined…”
PERFORMING ARTS LIVE

GERMANY
"While he has devoted much of his life to learning indigenous music Garcia also revels
in playing the new and unexpected…..Garcia's musical vocabulary not only spans centuries and cultures it's also spontaneous."
DEUTSCHE WELLE
GERMANYS INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER

NPR - USA
"Christopher Garcia has been a great friend of KPFK’s Global Village
because he plays the most extraordinary music on the most extraordinary
instruments with the most extraordinary musicians, and the music ….
is exquisite…..
it's not even music, it's an EXPERIENCE,
sometimes you don't even hear it,
you just feel it. This is magical stuff"
JOHN SCHNEIDER, NPR, KPFK's GLOBAL VILLAGE

MEXICO
"We continue to commemorate our ancestors, this time, in a special way with
a concert by Christopher García, a multifaceted musician who visits the Botanical
Garden to awaken our senses with ancestral musical instruments...."
JARDIN BOTANICO
CHARCO DEL INGENIO, SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE

INDIA
"Christopher Garcia, a multi-faceted percussionist, added an eclectic array of musical instruments from Mexico, India, and other places creating an imaginative array of sounds along with the movement."
NARTHAKI.COM

USA
“Garcia’s music resonates organically, and never seems contrived or slapped together
as he draws from the rich color of sounds at his disposal, and where and how he chooses to place the silences within and around his compositions and performances.
The music has a rhythmic complexity that propels and co exists with memorable melodies that tie the pieces together - combining and extending traditions, his is a unique voice in the tradition of composer/performer/improviser with instruments not generally associated with the instruments of the “western classical world"."
LATINOLA.com

"Garcia's YOLTEOTL - EL ARCO DE VIDA - THE ARC OF LIFE
whose heartbeat and heartstrings condensed more experience
into 10 minutes than many a symphony musters......Mesoamerican
instruments remain, and Garcia showed they can blend with
European ones quite effectively..."
METALJAZZ.COM

"Percussionist Chris Garcia nearly stole the show, 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

"Garcia Godinez duo features the pedal harp performed by Tasha Smith Godinez
and Christopher Garcia playing a variety of indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments from Mexico. Garcias's original compositions featuring these unusual instruments were performed brilliantly….. This combining of Western pedal harp with indigenous Mexican instruments is a new and creative approach in the World Music scene."
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
WESTERBECK RECITAL HALL
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE

MEXICO
"México Atemporal is a series of musical compositions and improvisations that
surge from an ongoing exploration of the symbiosis between indigenous instruments
of Mexico and Mesoamerica, the pianoforte, and the electronic manipulation of sound
in real time. This exploration is guided and based in the study of Mesoamerican codex, the Mexica dance tradition, and the study of classical and jazz pianist and composers
such as Cage, Debussy, Armengol and Bill Evans. This unique collaboration between Christopher Garcia and Pablo Leñero seeks to intertwine the resonances of the past
and present of Mexico."
TIEMPOLIBRE.MX

USA
"unusual instrumentation does not necessarily mean compelling music, and while some musicains "throw instruments together" for the sake of trying to be different, the music this gentleman creates is organic, while at the same time being virtuosic, and compelling on many different levels...."
LATINOLA.com

MEXICO
"Christopher Garcia is a critically acclaimed composer, and virtuosic improviser
on instruments not usually associated with just one musician including drumset, marimba, and instruments of north and south India and breath, string and percussion instruments of Mesoamerica, in every music combination possible - avant, classical, folkloric, indigenous, jazz, rock, and world, with a virtual who’s who of musicians with performances in 28 countries on 5 continents."
ATENCION SAN MIGUEL ALLENDE, MX

INDIA
"We hear a variety of percussion…..they sing and throb to the pulse of a single
person, Christopher Garcia. He produces an extraordinary array of sound and rhythms, effortlessly weaving in and out of familiar Indian patterns to those of the Americas…..”
SRUTI MAGAZINE
INDIAS PREMIER MAGAZINE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

MEXICO
"The interaction between the members of the Garcia Godinez Duo,
comprised by harpist Tasha Smith-Godinez and renaissance man
and multi-percussionist Chris Garcia, is full of flare, poise and bravura;
it defies the listener at every moment as the duo provides dynamic and
bold concoctions,
instead of the expected polite and amicable conversations.
As an ensemble, this duo offers infinite possibilities as its members
are exuberant and facile even in the most treacherous of passages.
I cannot wait to compose music for them"
JOSE GURRIA
GURISONIC ORCHESTRA
Composer, drummer, arranger, educator

"Christopher Garcia, a native of East Los Angeles, attended the California Institute
of the Arts in 1979 and continues to compose, improvise, concertize, lecture, and share
his personal experiences with indigenous music, instruments, culture, and culture bearers, and history of Mesoamerica at universities and concert halls worldwide along with the physiological effects of music, rhythm, and drumming which continue to be validated daily through neuroscience, confirming the information left to us by the ancients....."
OTIS ARTS INSTITUTE

"Christopher has a way of composing evocative structures rather than specific notes
and this allows us to interpret the music in ways that are personal and immediate.
Often he'll have a suggestion for a harmonic movement, but it will be up to us whether
to implement it and when. This is very powerful because having the opportunity to change the music as we feel it at the moment helps us grow and learn.
I admire this composing style and I'm hoping some of Chris skill will rub off!"
MICHAEL MANRING
BASSIST/COMPOSER

"Christopher Garcia dedicated "With his Hat in his Hand" to his father, Don Alberto Garcia and like much of his other music it was a piece of humility, confidence, clarity,
and positive feeling - a pleasure to listen to."
LA JAZZ SCENE

"Christopher Garcia, an artist known equally for his accomplishments as both adept player of North and South Indian instruments such as tabla and driving American
drum set player) with the likes of the Frank Zappa alumni band, The Grand Mothers
of Invention and the Bobby Bradford Mo’tet), the group reflects Garcia’s ongoing interest in honoring, exploring, and blending different musical cultures and their unique instruments. With Garcia always successful in his role as multicultural musical ambassador as well as sensitive and tasteful manifestor of thoroughly enjoyable musical experiences."
OPEN GATE THEATER

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KPFK INTERVIEW EXCERPT
with
JOHN SCHNEIDER
When people ask you,
when you are just meeting casually,
what kind of music do you play,
what do you say?

CG
Actually, I don’t know what to call it,
to be honest with you….
I don’t know what you’d call it because were using all types
of different elements ....
but I would say the elements that we're using are pretty organic
in regards to the arc of what I’ve been doing,
and what she’s been doing,
and now what we’ve been doing,
it's pretty organic,
as opposed to let’s put something together that doesn’t
usually go together for the sake of doing it.
We each have lots of years in our instruments and music,
and wanting to work to do something that hasn’t been done before

JOHN SCHNEIDER
This is that!

CG
Very much so

JOHN SCHNEIDER
I think you can call this
“WHIRLED MUSIC”
spelled
W H I R L E D

CG
Okay………

JOHN SCHNEIDER
blended music,
different styles,
different influences,
different instruments.........
extraordinary……

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11/2/SAT/24

RESONANCECOLLECTIVE .ORG
presents
RESONANCIA
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS NEW MUSIC CONCERT
for
INDIGENOUS BREATH, PERCUSSION AND
STRING INSTRUMENTS OF MESOAMERICA
PEDAL HARP
PIANO FORTE
VIOLIN
VOICE

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
CONCERT REVIEW

Flower Songs Music
with
Tasha Smith Godinez,
Pablo Leñero
and Harry Scorzo
celebrate Dia de los Muertos at
First Congregational Church of Los Angeles,
Nov. 2, 2024.

Few take time to consider the vibrations from people in comas, or from
others in non-mainstream states of consciousness, but Christopher Garcia and his Flower Songs Music are tuned in, especially on the Day of the Dead. Garcia's daughter Alegria, who sings in the group along with his wife, Yolanda, is also an archaeologist of Mesoamerica, bringing more resonances of the departed into play as the trio perform on indigenous drums, flutes, percussion instruments and strings.

At this concert in a spacious church, Flower Songs Music augmented selections from their two recordings and newer material with frequent Garcia collaborator
Tasha Smith Godinez (harp),
Harry Scorzo (violin),
and pianist-percussionist Pablo Leñero,
who also offered one of his own compositions.
They helped us absorb resonances that are always present.

The root of the Flower sound was a tall, carved drum thumped with
big mallets by each Garcia in turn to produce a heartbeat big enough
to pump a church or a cavern and be felt in every listener's chest. Eerie
flute harmonies, nettling percussion, pouring of water and many other
osounds f breath and life floated in dynamic surges to tell abstract stories
of a sacrifice in the pool of a dim cenote, or the ponderings of the Emperor Moctezuma in his black meditation room after receiving nightmare warnings of destruction. Even the 1531 appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe was commemorated.

Alegria Garcia's renditions in Spanish and ancient Nahuatl of "La Llorona," the classic metaphor-laden ballad of a woman mourning her dead children, required no knowledge of either language to feel the heart-gripping fist of emotion, her dignity, tonal purity and occasional rasp serving as powerful tools. Leñero, often contributing precise percussion accompaniment or piano embellishments, brought out his bold tribute to the Aztecs' defense of the Spaniards' murderous 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan; the composition alternated between thoughtful lyricism and bravura flourishes -- each accented by Godinez, who could pull some intense accents out of that angelic harp when she wanted to.

Godinez's gentle touch was also essential to Flower Songs' closer, "The Arc of Life," whose heartbeat and heartstrings condensed more experience into 10 minutes than many a symphony musters. Scorzo's scored violin parts provided frequent moments of distinct, patient beauty throughout.
Thus do the dead live on.
Mesoamerican instruments remain, and Garcia showed they can blend with European ones quite effectively. The history of the dead also remains in what is ironically still not called the 16th-century friars' "Aztec Codex" but "The Florentine Codex," because of where it was hidden for centuries. The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe, first intended as a colonizing wedge, has been remade into a saga of indigenous pride. And of course, there are the bloodlines -- renewed every day.
* * *
A presentation of the Resonance Collective.
* * *
PHOTOS BY FUZZY BAROQUE.

RECORDINGS ON BANDCAMP

RESONANCIA
christophergarciamusicprojects.bandcamp.com/album/resonancia

RESILIENCIA
christophergarciamusicprojects.bandcamp.com/album/resiliencia

100% OF ALL DOWNLOADS GO TO INDIGENOUS ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

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new music composed for
INDIGENOUS INSTRUMENTS AND WOODWIND QUINTET
QUINTETO LATINO

new music composed for
indigenous instruments of Mexico/Mesoamerica
and
pedal harp
GARCIA GODINEZ DUO
MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS

MEXICO ATEMPORAL
new music composed for
indigenous instruments of Mexico/Mesoamerica
and
pianoforte

new compostions for indigenous instruments of Mexico/Mesoamerica
and classical guitar
performed by
MEXCLA MUSIC
with
composed by
Christopher Garcia and Jeronimo Rajchenberg

TARANATH
composed by C. Garcia
performed by
ANADIS MUSIC
Jie Ma - pipa
John L. Stephens - sitar
cg - tabla

EARLY MOURNING SHADOWS
composed by C. Garcia
performed by
CONTINUUM
MUSIC for
piano forte
electric bass
soprano saxophone
EL MONSTRO PERCUSSION

YET AGAIN
composed by C. Garcia
as performed by
Alex de Grassi
Michael Manring
cg - El Monstro Percussion

new compostions for indigenous instruments of Mexico/Mesoamerica
performed by
XOCHI CUICATL
with
Christopher Garcia and Alegria Garcia

Garcia has been invited to perform his compositions
in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Europe, Korea
by the following ensembles

ANADI MUSIC
music for sitar and percussion of India, breath instruments of India, bass flute, bass clarinet
http://anadismusic.weebly.com/

ANADI MUSIC ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ANADI-MUSIC/217503695021311?fref=ts

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ANCIENT GROOVES
music for instruments of Africa, Asia and the Americas
http://ancientgrooves.weebly.com/index.html

ANCIENT GROOVES ON FACEBOOK
  http://www.facebook.com/ANCIENTGROOVES

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CONTINUUM WEBSITE LINKS
music for keyboards, electric bass, saxophone
continuummusic.weebly.com/

CONTINUUM ON FACEBOOK
  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Continuum-Music-Group-Jazz-Rock-World-Fusion/115458121868742

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GARCIA GODINEZ DUO SITE
Music for indigenous instruments of Mexico and Western Harp
http://garciagodinez.weebly.com/

GARCIA GODINEZ DUO ON FACEBOOK
  www.facebook.com/Garcia-Godinez-Duo-1690860077800873/

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THE GRAND MOTHERS OF INVENTION
the MUSIC of FRANK ZAPPA
http://www.grandmothersofinvention.weebly.com/

GRAND MOTHERS OF INVENTION ON FACEBOOK
  www.facebook.com/GRANDMOTHERSOFINVENTION/

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LOST TRIBES PRODUCTIONS SITE
music for instruments of Meso America
http://losttribezproductionz.weebly.com/lost-tribes.html

LOST TRIBES PRODUCTIONS ON FACEBOOK
  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Losttribesproductions/330823677087686?ref=bookmarks

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MANRING GARCIA MUSIC SITE
manringgarciaduo.weebly.com/
music for acoustic guitar, fretless bass and hand and stick percussion of India and beyond

MANRING GARCIA MUSIC ON FACEBOOK
  www.facebook.com/ManringGarciaakamaniax?ref=hl

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MEXICO ATEMPORAL
https://mexicoatemporalmusic.weebly.com/
Music for pianoforte, electronics, indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments of Mexico /Mesoamerica

MEXCLA MUSIC SITE
Music for indigenous instruments of Mexico, classical guitar,
prepared guitar, charango, requinto jarocho and more
mexclamusic.weebly.com/

MEXCLA MUSIC ON FACEBOOK
   www.facebook.com/Mexcla-Music-749227918519839/?ref=br_rs

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QUETZALCOATL MUSIC
folkloric music of Mexico, Central and South America
http://quetzalcoatlmusic.weebly.com/

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QUARTETO NUEVO MUSIC
1999 THRU 2015
music for acoustic guitar, cello, woodwinds and percussion of India and Beyond
http://quartetonuevomusic.weebly.com

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RESONANCIA CHAMBER MUSIC MULTI MEDIA COLLABORATION
https://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/resonancia-multi-media.html

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TALES FROM THE SILK ROAD
music for shakuhachi, yokobue and perrcussion of India and Meso America
http://talesfromthesilkroad.weebly.com/

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XOCHI CUICATL/FLOWER SONGS MUSIC
https://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/flower-songs.html