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 México, 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, where he studied 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, in which he studied 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, which was 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 los Muertos concerts at UNAM were popular events. He also gave many concerts at the Espacio Escultórico de Ciudad Universitaria, where he collaborated 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).
Read more about this topic: Jorge Reyes (musician)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible to the young.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)