REVIEWS MEXICO ATEMPORAL CONTEMPORARY MUSIC DUO Music for piano, indigenous instruments of Mesoamerica and the electronic manipulation of sound "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 John Cage, Claude Debussy, Mario Ruiz Armengol and Bill Evans. This unique collaboration between Christopher Garcia and Pablo Lenero seeks to intertwine the resonances of the past and present of Mexico." TIEMPO LIBRE ARTE Y CULTURA EN MEXICO "Christopher Garcia is a critically acclaimed as a composer, and virtuosic improviser with 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 musical 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 Pablo Lenero Archer, is a Mexican composer, pianist and conductor who resides in Los Angeles, California. Through his studies of the music of Bach, Beethoven Cage, Armengol, Debussy and Bill Evans. Lenero explores the integration between classical music and the folkloric and indigenous traditions of Mexico and the Americas. In his compositions, Lenero experiments with the use of different materials and media as part of the musical creation process, such as the use of paints and colors to create scores and improvisation eagles as well as the use of physical space as a means of musical expression. DISCOVERSMA.COM "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 “unusual instrumentation does not necessarily mean compelling music, and while some groups "throw instruments together" for the sake of trying to be different, the music these two create is organic, while at the same time being virtuosic, and compelling on many different levels….” LATINOLA.COM "When I met Christopher García a couple of years ago, 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 “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 "Christopher Garcia 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, KPFK's GLOBAL VILLAGE |