Biography
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Born
29 October 1951 (age 72)
Jorge Reyes was born in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico, (24-09-52). He studied transverse flute at the National Music School, (Escuela Nacional de Música de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, or UNAM) (1970–1975). 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 him to spend a year in Hamburg, Germany & studied improvisation with Herb Geller. As part of this training he travelled 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 travels, 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.
Later he began a prolific solo career, recording over 20 albums. He was known for his mysterious mixtures of electronics with prehispanic & ethnic instruments (clay flutes, pots, drums) field recordings & primal human sounds. Jorge Reyes´ deep sonic ambiences take the listener to an ancient era in which contradictory aspects of human behavior such as ritual, spirituality, cruelty, war, conquer, symbiosis of gods, man and nature were all needed to maintain peace and order. In some of his songs, he actually used samples of shaman chants, such as those by the mexican mushroom priestess Maria Sabina from Huatla, Oaxaca.
He worked with ethnic groups in México & several musicians from around the world, including: Steve Roach, Byron Metcalf, Francisco López, Arturo Meza (of the band Decibel), Antonio Zepeda, Piet Jan Blauw, Suso Saiz, Juan Carlos López, Elmar Schulte (of the band Solitaire), Deep Forest, among others.
In 1999 he worked on the movie soundtrack "The Other Conquest" (La otra conquista) along with Samuel Zyman.
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. He had three children: Citlalli, Ridwan & Erendira.
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