Cha'ak'ab Paaxil: Festival de Improvisación Libre y Free Jazz 2008

[Dennis Gonzalez]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/2461467649_a0e65abbfd_m.jpg

Merida, Yucatan: Thursday, July 3 - Sunday, July 6

Line-up:

Dennis González - trumpet (Dallas, Texas)
Remi Álvarez - tenor and soprano saxophones (México City)
Germán Bringas - tenor and alto saxophones, trumpet, objects (México City)
Marcos Miranda - soprano saxophóne, bass clarinete, flutes and toys (Cuernavaca)
Dave Dove - trombóne (Houston, TX)
Wilfrido Terrazas - flutes (México City)
Alexander Bruck - viola and electrónics (México City)
Armando Martín - el. guitar and electrónics (Mérida, Yucatan)
Fernando Vigueras - guitar and electrónics (México City)
Mario de Vega - electrónics (México City)
Aarón Cruz - contrabass and el. bass (México City)
Juan García - contrabass (Mérida, Yucatan)
Aaron González - contrabass (Dallas, TX)
Itzam Cano - contrabass (México City)
Chris Cogburn - percussion (Austin, TX)
Gabriel Lauber - drums (México City)
Stefan González - drums (Dallas, TX)
Milo Tamez - drums and percussion (Monterrey, Mexico)


Produced by Gerardo Alejos!

[Gerardo A]

Thanks for posting about my fest, Dennis! It will be an awesome time, I really can't wait for it to begin. Today I received the great news that, besides the 18 musicians listed in Dennis' post, we will have two musicians from Vienna: Mexican-born flute/electronics player Angélica Castelló, and guitar/electronics player Burkhard Stangl, of Schnee fame!

Perhaps it would be appropriate to post some background about the fest. First of all, "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil" are the Mayan words for "free music", which is self-explanatory. I have Mayan heritage myself (from my dad's side), and as you guys know the state of Yucatán hosts some of the most amazing vestiges of the Mayan culture.

I've been organizing free jazz/free improv concerts in Mérida for the past two years (http://dynamo-aktivitat.blogspot.com/), and ever since I started I dreamt about the opportunity of hosting a festival. This year I got a modest grant from the state's culture department, so the dream is finally coming true.

My idea was to showcase the people who, in my opinion, are the most interesting Mexican improvisers, offering them a chance to interact with musicians from other countries, which does not happen too often in the Mexican underground scene. So, I invited several U.S. musicians who I truly respect artistically, and who are also some of my most valued friends: Dennis and his sons, Austin's Chris Cogburn and Houston's Dave Dove. I'm still waiting to hear confirmation from a couple more U.S. musicians, so the line-up is still subject to grow.

There have been two prior festivals in Mexico that deal with the same area, one organized by saxophone player Germán Bringas in México City, and another made in Monterrey by guitar player Omar Tamez. Both of them have my highest respect since now I know first-hand how difficult it is to try to make something like this happen in this country. Perhaps the slight difference between my fest and theirs, is that I try to emphasize a curatorial perspective, creating ad-hoc ensembles and in general trying to coalesce the different sound worlds to create something larger than the sum of its parts.

And the other difference is that those fests were mostly focused in free jazz, so I made of point of increasing the scope of the fest by including musicians who don't really have jazz-playing experience, but who are great improvisers--some of them in regions like EAI and noise, such as electronics player Mario de Vega, the virtuosic young double-bass player Juan García, and the aforementioned Angélica Castelló. It will be very interesting to hear them interact with people like Burkhard Stangl and Chris Cogburn.

We have a blog (http://festivaldeimprovisacionlibre.blogspot.com/) and a myspace site (http://www.myspace.com/festivaldeimprovisacionlibre). The blog has all the detailed information about the musicians (currently in Spanish, but I will translate it to English soon). It will be 4 nights of concerts, all of them in Mérida. We will also host workshops by several of the participating musicians, to give back practical knowledge to the local community of musicians.

It would be great if other JC'ers besides Dennis and myself would attend the fest! I will gladly give discount for the fest entrance fee.

Hotels are very cheap in Yucatán (about $40 dollars a night gets you an air-conditioned 4-star room in a downtown hotel, and there are hostels starting at $5 per night for the adventurous souls), and the concerts will be held in the downtown area, so they will all be within walking distance. Food is typically cheap too, you can eat like a king in most places for under $15 dollars.

And flying to the Yucatán Peninsula is now cheaper than ever. There's a new low-cost Mexican airline called Viva Aerobus that has a Cancún-Austin round-trip flight for $160 dollars. Cancún is 3.5 hours away from Mérida, and the Cancún-Mérida bus costs about $20 (single-ride). If anyone is interested, just ask here and I'll provide as much information/help as I can.

There's a set list posted in the blog and the myspace, but it is still changing. I will post the final set list for each night within the next couple of weeks.

Finally, all the concerts will be recorded in audio and video. It is my intention to release a 2-DVD set of the fest, probably next year.

Cheers everyone, and I hope to see some of you here!

Gerardo

http://festivaldeimprovisacionlibre.blogspot.com/ (http://festivaldeimprovisacionlibre.blogspot.com/)

http://www.myspace.com/festivaldeimprovisacionlibre (http://www.myspace.com/festivaldeimprovisacionlibre)

[Gerardo A]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2072/2488931762_5aaa9f00c5_o.jpg

[Lois Gilbert]

The logo is kickin'

Very much success with this Gerardo and Dennis. I know it's a labor of love and I would love to be with you. Maybe next year!

[Gerardo A]

Thanks Lois! Glad you like the logo. It was designed by (perhaps) the greatest yucatecan political cartoonist, Tony (real name: Antonio Peraza), who's a cool cat that has been making fun of the system for decades; he's a big jazz head too.

Hope you can make it down next year! It would be great!

[Gerardo A]

Several musicians have been added to the lineup, final set list as follows:

Thursday, July 3rd 2008 [8:00PM], Galería 341-A
Set 1: Germán Bringas + Dennis González + Milo Tamez + Gabriel Lauber
Set 2: Pas de Raison [Angélica Castelló + Burkhard Stangl] + Chris Cogburn
Set 3: "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil" String Ensemble: Alexander Bruck + Burkhard Stangl + Armando Martín + Juan Castañón + Leonel Traconis + Juan García + Aaron González
Set 4: Rogelio Sosa + Mario de Vega + Juanjosé Rivas
Set 5: Zero Point [Germán Bringas + Itzam Cano + Gabriel Lauber] + Dennis González

Friday, July 4th [8:00PM], Galería 341-A
Set 1: Marcos Miranda solo, duet with Dennis González and trio with Juan Castañón
Set 2: "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil" Electronics and Percussion Ensemble: Chris Cogburn + Stefan González + Milo Tamez + Mario de Vega + Rogelio Sosa + Augusto Palma + Juanjosé Rivas + Omar Zamudio + Sergio Sánchez
Set 3: Germán Bringas + Aaron González + Stefan González
Set 4: Rogelio Sosa + Amniosis [Sergio Sánchez + Omar Zamudio + Ramsés Guevara + Sinuhé Guevara]
Set 5: Antimateria [Remi Álvarez + Itzam Cano + Gabriel Lauber] + Dave Dove + Aaron González + Stefan González

Saturday, July 5th [7:00 PM], La 68: Casa de Cultura Elena Poniatowska
Set 1: Armando Martín + Marcos Miranda + Dave Dove + Aarón Cruz + Stefan González
Set 2: Wilfrido Terrazas solo and duet with Juan García
Set 3: Remi Álvarez + Mario de Vega + Juan García + Chris Cogburn
Set 4: Xavier Becerra solo and quartet with Stefan González + Ramsés Guevara + Sinuhé Guevara
Set 5: Angélica Castelló + Carmina Escobar + Alexander Bruck + Fernando Vigueras + Juanjosé Rivas
Set 6: "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil" Free Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Dennis González [with Remi Álvarez + Marcos Miranda + Xavier Becerra + Dave Dove + Wilfrido Terrazas + Carmina Escobar + Alexander Bruck + Armando Martín + Juan Castañón + Itzam Cano + Aaron González + Milo Tamez + Gabriel Lauber]

Sunday, July 6th [7:00 PM], La 68: Casa de Cultura Elena Poniatowska
Set 1: Linfa [Carmina Escobar + Fernando Vigueras] + Wilfrido Terrazas + Hernán Hecht
Set 2: "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil" Wind and Brass Ensemble: Dennis González + Remi Álvarez + Marcos Miranda + Xavier Becerra + Dave Dove + Wilfrido Terrazas
Set 3: Milo Tamez solo and trio with Marcos Miranda + Aarón Cruz
Set 4: Cráneo de Jade [Remi Álvarez + Aarón Cruz + Hernán Hecht] + Dennis González + Armando Martín
Set 5: "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil" Electroacoustic Ensemble, directed by Burkhard Stangl [with Carmina Escobar + Alexander Bruck + Angélica Castelló + Wilfrido Terrazas + Dave Dove + Fernando Vigueras + Mario de Vega + Juanjosé Rivas + Juan García + Chris Cogburn]
Set 6: Dennis González Electric Yells At Eels [with Aaron González + Stefan González] + Remi Álvarez

[Gerardo A]

Next week!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2624261833_9d45cbb3d3_b.jpg

[Cem]

I wish I could be there, Gera & Dennis. Looks marvelous! I hope you've got plenty of help from the music community, freaks, friends and family, so that you get to enjoy it...

[Jazzooo]

Man, Gerardo--I don't know how I missed this! My weekend is totally booked with gigs in San Miguel so I can't come this year, but I will make it next time. I hope I get the chance to meet both you and Dennis before then. Best of luck!

[Gerardo A]

I wish I could be there, Gera & Dennis. Looks marvelous! I hope you've got plenty of help from the music community, freaks, friends and family, so that you get to enjoy it...

Thanks Cem! Hahaha yeah, I really hope I can have a chance to seat down and listen to the music! Fortunately we've been getting a lot of help from friends and family.

Man, Gerardo--I don't know how I missed this! My weekend is totally booked with gigs in San Miguel so I can't come this year, but I will make it next time. I hope I get the chance to meet both you and Dennis before then. Best of luck!

Oh no worries Doug! Thanks! Yeah, I still need to swing by San Miguel de Allende, hopefully soon.

[Gerardo A]

A quick note to inform you guys that the first night of our fest (tomorrow), will be streamed live through a local website. The website's name is Merida TV Online, and the link is:

http://www.meridatv.es.tl/Eventos-especiales-en-directo.htm

Or just go to http://www.meridatv.es.tl and, in the left menu, click on "Eventos Especiales en Directo" (Live Special Events).

The venue's doors open at 8pm (GTM -06:00, or U.S. Central Time), and the first set should start around 8:30. So the streaming should begin a few minutes afterwards.

The set list of our first night will be as follows:

Jueves 3 de julio de 2008 [8:00PM], La 68: Casa de Cultura Elena Poniatowska
Set 1: Germán Bringas + Dennis González + Milo Tamez + Gabriel Lauber
Set 2: Pas de Raison [Angélica Castelló + Burkhard Stangl] + Chris Cogburn, with visual projections by Jorge Carlos Cortázar and Laura Sánchez
Set 3: Ensamble de Alientos y Metales "Cha'ak'ab Paaxil": Dennis González + Remi Álvarez + Germán Bringas + Marcos Miranda + Xavier Becerra + Dave Dove
Set 4: Rogelio Sosa + Mario de Vega + Juanjosé Rivas
Set 5: Zero Point [Germán Bringas + Itzam Cano + Gabriel Lauber] + Dennis González

[Dennis Gonzalez]

The first three nights have been beautiful...report coming up when I get home!

[Gerardo A]

All nights were beautiful!!! The sets in which Dennis played were truly among the most memorable of all! And Aaron and Stefan, man! What a great couple of players. I'd love to read your report, Dennis! Mine will come as soon as my brain settles (and the post-festival concert series ends after Wednesday; last night it was the trio of Armando Martín, Aarón Cruz and Hernán Hecht; today it's the duet of Chris Cogburn and Juan García; and tomorrow it's the duet Linfa [Carmina Escobar + Fernando Vigueras]).

[Gerardo A]

Thursday night (pics taken by my girlfriend, Leonor):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2653581093_b2e3d91982.jpg
Oue venue, La68: Casa de Cultura Elena Poniatowska

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/2654352976_6f7b69898c.jpg
Germán Bringas and Dennis González

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2654362574_c5d492874c.jpg
Gabriel Lauber

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2654412586_15d58b1a99.jpg
Some of our audience

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3061/2654402534_12a57aaedf.jpg
Yours truly presenting the fest

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2654382100_ffbd54ecc1.jpg
Chris Cogburn

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2654512186_fbe7b7f096.jpg
Burkhard Stangl

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2654372302_b7181fc45e.jpg
Angélica Castelló and Chris Cogburn

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2654388294_8edbca9f41.jpg
Germán Bringas, Remi Álvarez, Xavier Becerra and Dennis González

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2654391334_10c1fcbc62.jpg
Dennis González and Marcos Miranda

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2653570617_62d4e61953.jpg
Rogelio Sosa

[Gerardo A]

Friday night:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2654505802_7efc614ef6.jpg
Our venue, Galería 341-A

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/2654415542_0ae83ffb5f.jpg
Dennis González

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2654422116_0381c58825.jpg
Marcos Miranda

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2654429484_4ee7aa005b.jpg
Dennis González and Marcos Miranda

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2653614139_cd7e191512.jpg
Germán Bringas

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/2654465824_42abd731d8.jpg
Some of our audience

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/2653617817_36c8f94dc7.jpg
Germán Bringas

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2654432952_9204e37fab.jpg
Alexander Bruck and Germán Bringas

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/2654447276_940c3090c5.jpg
Gabriel Lauber, Stefan González and Chris Cogburn

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3227/2653633647_46366bcd63.jpg
Mario de Vega, Rogelio Sosa and Juanjosé Rivas

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/2654455134_9767e4e6b2.jpg
Mario de Vega and Rogelio Sosa's setup

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2654451382_89dfe38f35.jpg
Mario de Vega, Rogelio Sosa, Juanjosé Rivas and Chris Cogburn

[Gerardo A]

My girlfriend missed Saturday's concert but I'll get those pics soon.

In the meantime, here's Sunday (same venue as Friday and Saturday):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2654482902_dea1c94862.jpg
Mario de Vega, Juan García, Wilfrido Terrazas and Juanjosé Rivas

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/2654469728_bdee12a1bc.jpg
Chris Cogburn and Alexander Bruck

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2386/2653647191_13ff8e4ed6.jpg
Wilfrido Terrazas

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2654475722_8f047e750e.jpg
Mario de Vega

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2654478884_fc181f4a4e.jpg
Angélica Castelló

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/2654490522_05d78e9e5f.jpg
Remi Álvarez, Aaron González and Gabriel Lauber

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3079/2654502438_a8a85ebf31.jpg
Carmina Escobar

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/2653670553_4b0f97a9ba.jpg
Carmina Escobar

[Ron Thorne]

Wonderful photos, Leonor!

Congratulations on a successful event, Gerardo!

[Derek Taylor]

Amazing! I’m practically rendered speechless & deeply regretting not being able to make it down there. A trip w/ my girlfriend was in the works, but everything fell through early-June due to work obligations. :( Sounds & looks y’all had a spectacular time. Way to go, Gerardo! And your girlfriend Leonor is a gifted photographer- some great shots.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

...from the fest:

1st row: Tamez, Cruz, Hecht, Dove
2nd row: Becerra, Cano, S. Gonzalez, Lauber
3rd row: Bruck, Terrazas, Garcia, Miranda
http://hometown.aol.com/dennisgonzalezx/images/chak%2012%20aa.jpg

[Gerardo A]

Hahahaha nice! 12 out of 32 musicians. Just look at Xavier Becerra, man...

Okay, so from left to right, top to bottom:

Milo Tamez - drums and percussion (Monterrey)
Aarón Cruz - contrabass (México City)
Hernán Hecht - drums (México City)
Dave Dove - trombone (Houston)
Xavier Becerra - saxophone (New York/México City)
Itzam Cano - contrabass (México City)
Stefan González - drums (Dallas)
Gabriel Lauber - drums (México City)
Alexander Bruck - viola and electronics (México City)
Wilfrido Terrazas - flutes (México City)
Juan García - contrabass (Mérida)
Marcos Miranda - soprano saxophone, kalimba, flutes and toys (Cuernavaca)

[Dennis Gonzalez]

With a little help from Leonor!

http://hometown.aol.com/dennisgonzalezx/images/comp%202%20meridaa.jpg

[Dennis Gonzalez]

from Cha'ak'ab:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38295579

[Gerardo A]

Dennis, what a beautiful video!!!! Great editing and it's awesome to see my house and the music! I'm forwarding it to everyone!

Gracias, hermano.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

This one posted at JazzVision looks the clearest and sounds the best!

http://tv.jazzcorner.com/view_video.php?viewkey=e6fe298e607fe7cc0e1a

[Jesse]

Sweet, thanks for chronicling the gathering, Gerardo & Dennis.

[Ron Thorne]

What Jesse said.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Sweet, thanks for chronicling the gathering, Gerardo & Dennis.
What Jesse said.

Eventually, I hope to get to an actual play-by-play in words. Don't hold me to it!

Thanks, guys.

[Gerardo A]

Hahaha I was just going to ask in your thread if you were going to write your memoirs of the fest... No hay prisa, grande hermano, y dale mis saludos a tus chilpayates!

[robin bell]

Sweet, thanks for chronicling the gathering, Gerardo & Dennis.

ditto. gerardo, please thank leonor for her beautiful photos and the festival logo is amazing. dennis, really enjoyed watching video. maybe one day some jcers will make it to this grand festival. thanks for all.

[brain]

Hola Gerardo!

Congratulations on the festival. It looks amazing!! I enjoyed all the pictures and descriptions so much. I'm really happy for you, all the musicians, audiences and Merida for this experience.

Felicidades!

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Hahaha I was just going to ask in your thread if you were going to write your memoirs of the fest... No hay prisa, grande hermano, y dale mis saludos a tus chilpayates!


Gerardo, and pals, I finally sat down and wrote Part I of our story, which goes along with the video:

http://hometown.aol.com/dennisgonzalezx/ChaPa1.html

Enjoy...Part II coming soon!

[Dennis Gonzalez]

...of the Journal:

http://hometown.aol.com/dennisgonzalezx/ChaPa2.html

[Mike Schwartz]

Nothing interesting ever happens to you guys on these trips:rolleyes: