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Nick Gomez full profile / Saxophone, bass, piano / 3 musicians

Other players: Michael Santos, Austin Thomas

Full program notes

Traditional Mexican songs performed in a modern jazz context.

"Bonita" by Luis Arcaráz (1905-1963)
arr. Nick Gomez (b. 1992)

A beautiful bolero made famous by Javier Solís. performed in a relaxed swing style a la Joe Henderson's "On the Trail" or Blue Mitchell's "Sweet Pumpkin"

Bésame Mucho by Consuelo Velásquez (1916-2005)
arr. Wes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery's jazz waltz version from his 1963 album "Boss Guitar".

"Volver, Volver" by Fernando Z. Maldonado (1916-1996)
arr. Nick Gomez (b. 1992)

A classic ranchera associated with the great Vicente Fernandez performed in lively Cuban Guaracha style.

"Sabor a Mi" by Álvaro Carrillo (1921-1969)

I think the beautiful lyric of this song calls for an especially respectful treatment. Although John Coltrane was on the vanguard of modern jazz in the 60s, he always performed ballads in a traditional, sentimental style, as if those songs were especially sacred to him. This song will be in a jazz ballad style a la Coltrane's "I Want to Talk About You".

"La Llorona" by Andres Henestrosa (1906-2008)

La Llorona is a traditional Mexican song and folk tale with mysterious origins. In the folk tale. La Llorona is a ghostly or woman who haunts the earth weeping for the children she drowned. The lyrics of the song seem to imply a yearning for a beautiful yet mysterious crying woman. We perform this song in 7/8 a la Brad Mehldau's "All the Things You Are".

Historical context

Since its birth at the turn of the 20th Century, jazz has accepted influence from a variety of ethnic traditions and personal experiences. In the early days of New Orleans jazz, Black American blues, European classical music, and Caribbean rhythms formed a proverbial gumbo. In the 1930s, European musicians infused the music with their folk traditions to create gypsy jazz. In the 60s, hard bop musicians drew inspiration from the gospel church. In the 70s, musicians like Miles Davis applied a rock aesthetic to the music. Today, there are almost as many styles of jazz as there are cultures in the world, with new fusions cropping up even in places without a tradition of live jazz thanks to the internet.

With this program, I hope to apply my personal history and cultural heritage to the music as my heroes did before me.

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