The futuristic sound of Juan García Esquivel in M ​​Jazz

• His innovative sound can be seen in TV series such as The Flintstones, Better Call Saul and the Mexican Odisea Burbujas.

Mexico City.- The sound that you can follow with your eyes, this is how they described the music of the Mexican composer Juan García Esquivel. Born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, in 1918, Esquivel, as he is commonly known, is one of the greatest Mexican composers of all time.

Considered the father of the modern lounge, the music of the Tamaulipas is a kind of orchestral music in which he gives free rein to his playful imagination. Proof of this are his experiments with stereophonic sound, which became a personal stamp on his music.

Graduated as an Electronic Engineer from the Higher School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of the National Polytechnic Institute, Esquivel began his musical career as a pianist at the XEW; later he made arrangements with his orchestra for the comedy program Panzón Panseco, also broadcast on the station.

Esquivel was well known in the United States, where he emigrated in 1958 and developed his creativity by experimenting with stereophony, to the point of recording two orchestras simultaneously in different studios to achieve that effect of moving sound or sound that can be followed with the look, as they also described it.

Esquivel’s career was a success not only in recording rooms, but also at Las Vegas hotel night shows. Frank Sinatra encouraged the Mexican to bring his music to those stages. “People need to see and hear what you do,” Sinatra told him. It was thus that Esquivel began his rehearsals in the garage of his house to prepare what would be a successful show that he regularly presented at the Stardust Hotel.

However, after the decline of the hotels in Las Vegas and the US economy, which affected large orchestras and large-format groups like those of the Mexican, Esquivel returned to Mexico in 1979 and his music was rediscovered thanks to Silvia Roche, creator from the successful children’s series Bubble Odyssey. She commissioned him the original music and it was a bestseller.

His work can also be heard in famous television series and movies such as The Flintstones, Better Call Saul, Big Lebowski, among many others.

In its first edition, M Jazz presents the Esquivel 100 concert, a tribute to Juan García Esquivel, performed by the National Jazz Orchestra of Mexico, under the direction of Tim Mayer.

The National Jazz Orchestra of Mexico (ONJMX AC) was born in 2015 with the purpose of promoting contemporary music and jazz in Mexico. In 2015 he began his first national tour, which included venues such as the International Jazz Festival in Tepic Nayarit; VII Jazz Festival in Aguascalientes; the Jazzmex CNA DF Festival; International Summer Jazz Festival in Querétaro; International Festival of the Ceiba, in Villahermosa, Tabasco; CU BUAP Summer Festival, in Puebla, (Guest Director Tim Mayer); Hidalgo International Jazz Festival; JazzUV in Xalapa, (opened the concert for Maraca Valle and his All Stars) and the Riviera Maya International Festival, in Playa del Carmen.

In 2018 he produced the tribute concert to Juan García Esquivel, with a full house at the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris. He was nominated for the 100 must-sees as one of the best projects in the country and nominated for Las Lunas del Auditorio Nacional, for the Tribute Concert to the Mexican genius Juan García Esquivel (directed by maestro Tim Mayer).

The National Jazz Orchestra of Mexico (ONJMX AC) is part of the M-Jazz festival, which will take place on February 11 at the Bicentennial Park in Mexico City. Tickets on sale.