CURATION
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from this page:
by Matrix
The Integrated Global Creative Economy
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Name:
Edsel Gomez
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City/Place:
New York City
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Country:
United States
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Hometown:
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Life
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Bio:
Edsel Gomez is today one of the premier Latin Jazz pianists in the world. This is his musical journey.
PUERTO RICAN ROOTS
Born in Puerto Rico, he began piano studies at age five and played with salsa bands since his pre-teen years. He grew up in a musical environment that allowed him to master Afro-Caribbean rhythms in depth, working since childhood with an incredible array of Latin music artists.
BOSTON MUSIC STUDIES
At the age of 17, Edsel moved to Boston, Massachusetts to learn more about jazz. A Berklee College of Music alumnus class of ’85, Edsel was his graduating class' recipient of the Count Basie Award for Outstanding Musicianship during his senior year.
TEN YEARS IN BRAZIL
Edsel lived in Brazil from 1986 to 1996, where he studied Brazilian music extensively and worked with several Brazilian icons. Gomez’s personal approach to fusing jazz with Latin, African and Brazilian music gives him a unique personality and musical voice. He recorded many albums while in Brazil, the most popular ones being: 1. "Celebrating Chico Buarque de Hollanda" (solo album); 2. "America" (duo album with Arismar do Espirito Santo).
NEW YORK-BASED SINCE 1997
Since relocating to New York in 1997, he has been featured in several Grammy nominated as well as Grammy winning recordings. Cubist Music, his own US debut recording was nominated for a Grammy Award and a Jazz Journalists Association Award. He arranged, directed and played in Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Grammy winning recording “Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959), To Billie with Love from Dee Dee". Gomez has collaborated with Dee Dee Bridgewater as pianist/arranger/musical director/composer, traveling around the world for over 14 years, as well as collaborated, recorded and toured with Jack DeJohnette, Don Byron, Brian Lynch, Eddie Palmieri among several others.
AFRICAN PROJECT IN MALI
Edsel worked with a 14-man team of musicians from Mali, Africa for the "Red Earth: A Malian Journey" album as Dee Dee Bridgewater's pianist, arranger and co-composer. The album, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, involved rehearsing and recording with the said team in Mali and another African team in France. The ensemble took the music of this new album around the world, touring for 3 years.
ASIAN PRESENCE
KOREA. Edsel had a three-term residence in Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea, as Artist in Residence at The Timber House, Park Hyatt Seoul hotel from 2014-2015.
PHILIPPINES. In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, after a research study collaboration with the Philippine Heritage Library, the Ayala Museum included Edsel in their line up for two seasons (2014 and 2016), where he featured the “Edsel Gomez World Fusion Band”, showcasing the fusion of Philippine traditional and tribal music with jazz and afro-caribbean music as well as musical influences from South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
INDIA. Edsel's long-time fascination with Indian culture led him to a self-imposed pilgrimage to several cities in India for his 50th birthday and which deepened his admiration for their music and culture, as reflected in his album "Road to Udaipur". While in Mumbai, he recorded with Bollywood superstar Shankar Mahadevan, who also showed him around the city.
FAMILY
Edsel was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. He lives in New York City with his Filipina wife, Eileen Sison (founder and artistic director of Escola de Samba de Manila). His eldest son, physicist Dr. Daniel Gomez, PhD. is a fellow with the MIT/Harvard Medical Research Team at Martinos Center, MassGen Hospital in Boston. His youngest son Dennis Gomez, a Russian Literature graduate from the University of São Paulo and a composer/classical pianist, is involved in the Composition Program at Escola de Musica do Estado de São Paolo (EMESP Tom Jobim).
My Recordings
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For Audio, Visual:
Grammy Award-Winning Recordings
ELEANORA FAGAN, TO BILLIE WITH LOVE FROM DEE DEE - Dee Bridgewater, with Christian McBride, Lewis Nash and James Carter (Edsel Gomez pianist, arranger, musical director)
CORAL - David Sanchez, Prague Radio Symphony, Carlos Franzetti
SIMPATICO - Eddie Palmieri /Bryan Lynch
Grammy Award-Nominated Recordings
CUBIST MUSIC - EDSEL GOMEZ - Zoho Music
ANOTHER KIND OF BLUE - CONRAD HERWIG/BRIAN LYNCH - Half Note Records
RED EARTH, A MALIAN JOURNEY - DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER - Universal International (Edsel Gomez pianist, arranger, co-composer)
OBSESION - DAVID SANCHEZ - Sony/Columbia
MELAZA - DAVID SANCHEZ - Sony/Columbia
TRAVESIA - DAVID SANCHEZ - Sony/Columbia
Edsel's Own Album Recordings
CUBIST MUSIC - Edsel Gomez - Zoho Music
ROAD TO UDAIPUR - Edsel Gomez - Zoho Music
IN BRAZIL - Edsel Gomez Trio - Eldorado Records
CELEBRATING CHICO BUARQUE DE HOLLANDA - Edsel Gomez - Mixhouse Records Brazil
AMERICA - Edsel Gomez & Arismar do Espirito Santo - Lua Music, Brasil
Other Recordings as Pianist/Arranger
THE CHICK COREA SONGBOOK - The Manhattan Transfer
MILES ESPAÑOL: NEW SKETCHES OF SPAIN - Various Artists - Bob Belden
PUERTO RICO HEINEKEN JAZZ FESTIVAL '93 - incl. Edsel Gomez Trio (with Eddie Gomez and Ignacio Berroa)
QUE VIVA COLTRANE: THE LATIN SIDE OF JOHN COLTRANE - Conrad Herwig/Brian Lynch - Criss Cross Records
THE LATIN SIDE OF MILES - Conrad Herwig and Paquito D’Rivera - recorded live at the Blue Note, N.Y. C. - Half Note Records
MIDNIGHT SUN - Dee Dee Bridgewater
SPIRITS OF MOZART - DVD-EUROARTS - Dee Dee Bridgewater/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
LÍNGUA - Caetano Veloso
A THOUSAND BEAUTIFUL THINGS - Janis Siegel - Telarc
EAST SIDE RIO DRIVE - Nilson Matta
A DAY IN THE LIFE - Eric Benét
TUSKEEGEE EXPERIMENTS - Don Byron - Electra/Nonesuch
MUSIC FOR SIX MUSICIANS - Don Byron - Electra/Nonesuch
YOU ARE #6 - Don Byron - Blue Note Records
EL HOMBRE - Carlos "Patato" Valdes
MUSIC FOR THE WORLD VOL. 1 - Various Artists - Juan Carlos Quintero
P.R. ALGO ESPECIAL - Julito Alvarado
SCENES FROM MY LIFE - Richard Bona - Sony/Columbia
REVERENCE - Richard Bona - Sony/Columbia
TROMPETA TROPICAL - Humberto Ramirez
HUMBERTO RAMIREZ PRESENTS SMOOTH LATIN JAZZ - Humberto Ramirez
RUMBANTELA - Humberto Ramirez - AJ Records
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON - Raul de Souza – RGE
BRANCHIN OUT - William Cepeda - Bluejacket
RITE OF PASSAGE - Sunny Sumter
BOOGALOO BRASILEIRO - Freddie Bryant - Fresh Sound Records
LIVE AT SMOKE’S - Freddie Bryant - Fresh Sound Records
SOULFUL PEOPLE - Sandro Albert - featuring Peter Erskine, Kenny Garret, Jimmy Haslip, Antonio Sanchez, Milton Nascimento - Meridean Music
THE COLOR OF THINGS - Sandro Albert - Meridean Music
IN TRADITION - Luis “Perico” Ortiz
CAUBY SINGS SINATRA - Cauby Peixoto featuring Caetano Veloso, Ney Matogrosso, João Bosco, Leny Andrade - Sharp Records Brazil
BLEN BLEN CLUB - The Heartbreakers - Eldorado Records Brazil
PRODIGIOS DELIGHTS - Prodigios
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS - Tony Lujans - Bella Records
TOMORROW’S DESTINY - Toni Lujans - Bella Records
DEBUTASTE EN MI - Jorge Escobar
TAKE OFF, A MUSICAL ODYSSEY - Ivan Renta
DREAM - Line Kruse
VISION OF LOVE - Christine Capdeville
10 ANOS - Arismar do Espirito Santo - Velas Records
MOVEMENT TO EGALITARIA - Norbert & Karen Stachel & Lehcats
CAN YOU IMAGINE - John Bailey
DILUVIO - Robby Ameen - Origin Records
FORBIDDEN LOVE - Yola Nash (soon to be released)
SPELLBOUND - Bobby Rozario (soon to be released)
Movie Soundtrack Recordings
EL CANTANTE - musical scoring for movie featuring Marc Antony & Jennifer Lopez
EVERY CHILD IS BORN A POET: THE LIFE & WORKS OF PIRI THOMAS - Piri Thomas
FEET TO THE CITY - Don Byron
PIÑERO - Kip Hanrahan
Clips (more may be added)
The Bahian Recôncavo was final port-of-call for more enslaved human beings than any other place throughout the entirety of mankind’s existence on this planet.
Brazil absorbed over ten times the number of enslaved Africans taken to the United States of America, and is a repository of African deities now largely forgotten in their lands of origin.
Brazil was a refuge (of sorts) for Sephardim fleeing an Inquisition which followed them across the Atlantic (that unofficial symbol of Brazil’s national music — the pandeiro — was almost certainly brought to Brazil by these people).
Across the parched savannas of the interior of Brazil’s culturally fecund nordeste/northeast (where wizard Hermeto Pascoal was born in Lagoa da Canoa — Lagoon of the Canoe — and raised in Olho d’Águia — Eye of the Eagle), much of Brazil’s aboriginal population was absorbed into a caboclo/quilombola culture punctuated by the Star of David.
"Great culture is great power. And in a small world great things are possible."
The Matrix was built to open the world to Bahian musicians by opening the world to all creators.
In the Matrix you curate people (and entities) for what they do and where they do it. And they can curate you. A network is formed.
By the mathematical magic of the small-world phenomenon, everybody in the Matrix (as in human society) tends to within degrees of everybody else.
And by logical extension, the entire planet. All can (potentially) be found by everybody. QED
Recently accessed from:
"Thanks, this is a brilliant idea!!"
—Alicia Svigals (NEW YORK CITY): Apotheosis of klezmer violinists
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers (BOSTON): Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory ... Former personal recording engineer for Prince; "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"
"Dear Sparrow, Many thanks for this – I am touched!"
—Julian Lloyd Webber (LONDON): Premier cellist in UK; brother of Andrew (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Phantom of the Opera...)
"This is super impressive work ! Congratulations ! Thanks for including me :)))"
—Clarice Assad (RIO DE JANEIRO/CHICAGO): Pianist and composer with works performed by Yo Yo Ma and orchestras around the world
"We appreciate you including Kamasi in the matrix, Sparrow."
—Banch Abegaze (LOS ANGELES): manager, Kamasi Washington
"Thanks! It looks great!....I didn't write 'Cantaloupe Island' though...Herbie Hancock did! Great Page though, well done! best, Randy"
"Very nice! Thank you for this. Warmest regards and wishing much success for the project! Matt"
—Son of Jimmy Garrison (bass for John Coltrane, Bill Evans...); plays with Herbie Hancock and other greats...
Ground Zero for the project was the culture born in Brazil's quilombos (in Angola a kilombo is a village; in Brazil it is a village either founded by Africans or Afro-Brazilians who had escaped slavery, or — as in the case of São Francisco do Paraguaçu below — occupied by such after abandonment by the ruling class):
...theme for a Brazilian Matrix, from an Afro-Brazilian Mass by
Milton Nascimento
I opened the shop in Salvador, Bahia in 2005 in order to create an outlet to the wider world for magnificent Brazilian musicians.
David Dye & Kim Junod for NPR found us (above), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (he's a huge jazz fan), David Byrne, Oscar Castro-Neves... Spike Lee walked past the place while I was sitting on the stoop across the street drinking beer and listening to samba from the speaker in the window...
But we weren't exactly easy for the world-at-large to get to. So in order to extend the place's ethos I transformed the site associated with it into a network wherein Brazilian musicians I knew would recommend other Brazilian musicians, who would recommend others...
And as I anticipated, the chalky hand of God-as-mathematician intervened: In human society — per the small-world phenomenon — most of the billions of us on earth are within some 6 or fewer degrees of each other. Likewise, within a network of interlinked artists as I've described above, most of these artists will in the same manner be at most a handful of steps away from each other.
So then, all that's necessary to put the Brazilians within possible purview of the wide wide world is to include them among a wide wide range of artists around that world.
If, for example, Quincy Jones is inside the matrix, then anybody on his page — whether they be accessing from a campus in L.A., a pub in Dublin, a shebeen in Cape Town, a tent in Mongolia — will be close, transitable steps away from Raymundo Sodré, even if they know nothing of Brazil and are unaware that Sodré sings/dances upon this planet. Sodré, having been knocked from the perch of fame and ground into anonymity by Brazil's dictatorship, has now the alternative of access to the world-at-large via recourse to the vast potential of network theory.
...to the degree that other artists et al — writers, researchers, filmmakers, painters, choreographers...everywhere — do also. Artificial intelligence not required. Real intelligence, yes.
Years ago in NYC (I've lived here in Brazil for 32 years now) I "rescued" unpaid royalties (performance & mechanical) for artists/composers including Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Mongo Santamaria, Jim Hall, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (for his rights in Bob Marley compositions; Clement was Bob's first producer), Led Zeppelin, Ray Barretto, Philip Glass and many others. Aretha called me out of the blue vis-à-vis money owed by Atlantic Records. Allen Klein (managed The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles) called about money due the estate of Sam Cooke. Jerry Ragovoy (Time Is On My Side, Piece of My Heart) called just to see if he had any unpaid money floating around out there (the royalty world was a shark-filled jungle, to mangle metaphors, and I doubt it's changed).
But the pertinent client (and friend) in the present context is Earl "Speedo" Carroll, of The Cadillacs. Earl went from doo-wopping on Harlem streetcorners to chart-topping success to working as a custodian at PS 87 elementary school on the west side of Manhattan. Through all of this he never lost what made him great.
Greatness and fame are too often conflated. The former should be accessible independently of the latter.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay (they paid).
Matrix founding creators are behind "one of 10 of the best (radios) around the world", per The Guardian.
Across the creative universe... For another list, reload page.
This list is random, and incomplete. Reload the page for another list.
For a complete list of everybody inside, tap TOTAL below:
TOTAL
Hermeto Pascoal
Alicia Svigals
Susan Rogers
Julian Lloyd Webber
Clarice Assad
Kamasi Washington
Randy Brecker
Matt Garrison
RÁDIO MATRIX