Edsel Gomez, steps away
Edsel Gomez and most of humanity are within 6 degrees of each other. This matrix combines the small-world principle behind this seemingly magical fact with inter-artist recommendations-in-series in order to make all artists potential curators and discoverable within a handful of steps from everywhere on the planet. It works like this:
I RECOMMEND people (do you?)Edsel Gomez & degrees of proximity
Why again is Edsel Gomez mere steps away from other artists in here, and by extension, most everybody on the planet???
WHO CURATES "I RECOMMEND" ABOVE?
- Vertex/Edges Out by: The Matrix
Artist & Where
- Name: Edsel Gomez
- City/Place: New York City
- Country: United States
- 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).
Contact Information
- Email: edselgomez@me.com
Media & Markets
- ▶ Twitter: edselgomez
- ▶ Instagram: edselgomezmusician
- ▶ Website: http://www.edselgomez.com
- ▶ YouTube Music: http://music.youtube.com/channel/UCZU7NmZRifaJh_z7u4SDFZQ
- ▶ Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/4znYjzvqmQFWx4NtUNl1fO
- ▶ Spotify 2: http://open.spotify.com/album/7atVtj48m3truPwFPlJ7uh
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)
ABOUT THE MATRIX
This matrix is dedicated to creative artists and non-algorithmic discovery.
It was described (to some degree) and can be accessed via this article in British journal The Guardian (which named our radio of matrixed artists as one of ten best in the world):
www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/apr/17/10-best-music-radio-station-around-world
While the Brazilian musicians I work with now you may not know, I formerly worked (chasing unpaid royalties!) on behalf of Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, Jim Hall, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Philip Glass, The Cadillacs (Earl Carroll), The Flamingos (Zeke and Jake Carey), and others, including Oscar-winning world-class great-guy Robb Royer. I was interviewed by David Dye for broadcast on U.S. National Public Radio several years ago ... about the Brazilians:
- Randy "Pardal/Sparrow" Roberts
All is more connected than we know.
w/ David Dye for U.S. National Public Radio
The matrix was inspired in (the kabbalah-inspired fiction of) Borges' El Aleph, that in the pillar in Cairo's Mosque of Amr, where the universe in its entirety throughout all time is perceivable as an infinite hum from deep within the stone...
Our logo, per the "spirit" above, is a cortador de cana, a cane cutter. It was designed by Walter Mariano, professor of design at the Federal University of Bahia to reflect the origins of the music the shop specialized in. The Brazilian "aleph" doesn't hum... it dances and sings.
