Jorge Reyes - Live Performance

Reyes was born on September 24, 1952, in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico. He played many Prehispanic instruments being exposed to them from an early age in his village. Reyes attended the National School of Music, Mexico (Escuela Nacional de Musica de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, or UNAM) 1970--1975, studying the flute. During this time, he formed two seminal Mexican rock bands, Al Universo and Nuevo México, influenced by Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd but incorporating native musical instruments. In 1976, his growing interest in jazz led to spending a year in Hamburg, Germany, where he studied improvisation with Herb Geller. As part of this training, he traveled through Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. In 1978, he attended a Hindu music course in the Himalayas, in which he studied traditional Indian flute and percussion techniques. On these overseas trips, he began collecting many native instruments. After returning to Mexico, Reyes founded the band Chac Mool with drummer Armando Suárez and keyboardist Carlos Alvarado, which was one of the first Mexican progressive rock bands. The band recorded four well-received albums, on which Reyes played flute and guitar, before disbanding. In 1985, Reyes began a prolific solo career. He collaborated with several other new-age and electronic musicians, including American synthesist Steve Roach, Mexican singer and multi-instrumentalist Arturo Meza (of the band Decibel), Spanish guitarist Suso Saiz, Mexican percussionist Juan Carlos López, German synthesist Elmar Schulte (of the band Solitaire), Deep Forest, and others. His music was used frequently in Mexican radio and television programs. He performed many concerts at famous Mexican archeological sites such as Malinalco, Teotihuacan, Templo Mayor, Chichen Itza, and Tenango del Valle. His annual Día de los Muertos concerts at UNAM were popular events. He also gave many concerts at the Espacio Escultórico de Ciudad Universitaria, where he collaborated with dancer and choreographer Regina Quintero. Reyes died Saturday, February 7, 2009, of a heart attack at his recording studio in Mexico City. He was 56 years old. He had three children—Citlalli, Ridwan (with Ursula Kipp), and Erendira (with Ariane Pellicer).