CURATION
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from this page:
by Matrix
Network Node
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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 & Work
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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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Discography:
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)
I created this matrix so the world could discover elemental cultural genius here in Bahia: João do Boi (rest in power), Roberto Mendes, Raymundo Sodré and magisterial others. To make these artists discoverable worldwide though, there's a catch: The matrix must encompass so far as possible ALL CREATORS EVERYWHERE.
The Integrated Global Creative Economy, uncoiling from this sprawling Indigenous, African, Sephardic and then Ashkenazic, Arabic, European, Asian cultural matrix.
The mathematics of the small world phenomenon transforming the creative universe into a creative village wherein all are connected by short pathways to all.
Tap the crosses on somebody's Matrix Page to recommend that person for that category.
(Crosses visible when you are logged in)
The crosses will turn green.
That person/category will appear in your My Curation & Recommendations.
You will appear in that person's Incoming Curation and Recommendations.
You and the person you are recommending will be pulled by mathematical gravity to within DISCOVERABLE distance of EVERYBODY ELSE INSIDE the Matrix.
In a small world great things are possible.
"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
Salvador is our base. If you plan to visit Bahia, there are some things you should probably know and you should first visit:
www.salvadorbahiabrazil.com
Conceived under a Spiritus Mundi ranging from the quilombos and senzalas of Cachoeira and Santo Amaro to Havana and the provinces of Cuba to the wards of New Orleans to the South Side of Chicago to the sidewalks of Harlem to the townships of South Africa to the villages of Ireland to the Roma camps of France and Belgium to the Vienna of Beethoven to the shtetls of Eastern Europe...*
Sodré
*...in conversation with Raymundo Sodré, who summed up the irony in this sequence by opining for the ages: "Where there's misery, there's music!" Hence A Massa, anthem for the trod-upon folk of Brazil, which blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south until Sodré was silenced, threatened with death and forced into exile...
And hence a platform whereupon all creators tend to accessible proximity to all other creators, irrespective of degree of fame, location, or the censor.
Matrix Ground Zero is the Recôncavo, bewitching and bewitched, contouring the resplendent Bay of All Saints (end of clip below, before credits), absolute center of terrestrial gravity for the disembarkation of enslaved human beings (and for the sublimity these people created), the bay presided over by Brazil's ineffable Black Rome (seat of the Integrated Global Creative Economy* and where Bule Bule is seated below, around the corner from where we built this matrix as an extension of our record shop).
Assis Valente's (of Santo Amaro, Bahia) "Brasil Pandeiro" filmed by Betão Aguiar
Betão Aguiar
("Black Rome" is an appellation per Caetano, via Mãe Aninha of Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá.)
*Darius Mans holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, and lives between Washington D.C. and Salvador da Bahia.
Between 2000 and 2004 he served as the World Bank’s Country Director for Mozambique and Angola. In that capacity, Darius led a team which generated $150 million in annual lending to Mozambique, including support for public private partnerships in infrastructure which catalyzed over $1 billion in private investment.
Darius was an economist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he worked closely with the U.S. Treasury and the IMF to establish a framework to avoid debt repudiation and to restructure private commercial debt in Brazil and Chile.
He taught Economics at the University of Maryland and was a consultant to KPMG on infrastructure projects in Latin America.
Replete with Brazilian greatness, but we listened to Miles Davis and Jimmy Cliff in there too; visitors are David Dye & Kim Junod for NPR/WXPN
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
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.
This list is random, and incomplete. Reload the page for another list.
Pardal/Sparrow
Ex Terra Brasilis
Wolfram MathWorld
UNIVERSAL
Alicia Svigals
Susan Rogers
Julian Lloyd Webber
Clarice Assad
Luciano Calazans
Kamasi Washington
Randy Brecker
Gustavo Caribé
J Velloso
Lázaro Ramos
Fernando Guerreiro
Maria Marighella
Russell Okung
Bule Bule
Caetano Veloso
RÁDIO MATRIX