Remi Álvarez (born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Mexico) is a Mexican jazz saxophonist. He studied transversal flute at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música from 1975 to 1979 with Rubén Islas.

Biography

He then taught himself to play the saxophone and made his professional debut with Cuarteto Mexicano de Jazz in 1984. Later, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and continued his studies of composition and

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

at the Creative Music Studio with Anthony Braxton,

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexican ...

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figures ...

and Don Cherry. He studied a bachelor in jazz at the Escuela Superior de Música from 1982 to 1987. In 1988, he traveled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where his musical development was strengthened by taking classes with the composer-sax player

Steve Lacy Steve Lacy may refer to: Music * Steve Lacy (saxophonist) (1934–2004), American jazz saxophonist and composer * Steve Lacy (singer) (born 1998), American musician Other occupations *Steve Lacy (coach) (1908–2000), American college sports coach ...

. Since 1991, he has been a professor of saxophone and jazz at the Escuela Nacional de Música of the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM). In February 2004, he traveled to Europe, invited by Georg Hoffman, Swiss bass player, and

Tobias Delius Tobias Delius (born 15 July 1964) is a tenor saxophonist and clarinettist. Early life Delius was born in Oxford, England, on 15 July 1964. His mother was German and his father was Argentine. Delius was brought up largely in England and Germany. ...

, British saxophonist, touring several cities in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and the Netherlands with them. In 2005, he took a course in advanced improvisation at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute with

and Evan Parker, among others. In June 2006, he was invited to play in the

Vision Festival The Vision Festival is the world's premier festival of experimental music (typically free jazz/avant-garde jazz), art, film and dance, held annually in May/June on the Lower East Side of New York City from 1996 to 2011, in Brooklyn from 2012-2014, ...

, the most important free jazz festival in New York City by Dennis González, Texan trumpet player. Founder of Cráneo de Jade, with whom he has co-produced and recorded three CDs, he was invited to the Festival Internacional de Jazz Plaza in La Habana, Cuba, in 1997. In October 2005, Cráneo de Jade performed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes as a part of the Los Diez Grandes del Jazz, a tribute to the pioneers of jazz in México. In April 2007, Cráneo de Jade attended the VII Festival Internacional de San Luis Potosí. He has been a member of

Astillero El Astillero (English: "The Shipyard") is a town and municipality in the province and autonomous community of Cantabria, northern Spain. It is near the provincial capital of Santander, and it is known for its shipyard, and for hosting of Spanish na ...

ensemble since 2000, performing in France in 2001 and 2004. In October 2006, Astillero joined the 34th edition of the Festival Internacional Cervantino. Currently, he is a member of Antimateria, FAS Trio, Cráneo de Jade ensembles; he plays in a duet with Gabriel Lauber and runs his own trio: Remi Álvarez Trio. He has performed live with musicians like Sabir Mateen, Rodrigo Amado, Dennis, Stefan and Aaron González, Ernest Dawkins, Vinz Vonlanthen, Michael Vatcher, Tayeb Laoufi and the Gnawa Spirit from Morocco. He has performed live and recorded with the Camerata de las Américas.

Selected ensembles

*Chocolate Smoke Gang *Álvarez - Lauber Duo *Antimateria *Cráneo de Jade *FAS Trio *Remi Álvarez Trio

Major collaborators

*Carlos Maldonado Cisneros *Milo Tamez * Aarón Cruz * Gabriel Lauber * Hernan Hecht *

Itzam Cano Itzam Cano (born in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican jazz double bassist. He studied ethnomusicology at the Escuela Nacional de Música from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He studied electric bass and contrabass and the ...

* Gustavo Nandayapa * Arturo Báez * Jorge Fernández * David Sánchez

References

External links

Remi Álvarez at MySpaceArticle of July 5th, 2008 at mexican newspaper Diario de YucatánArticle of September 26th, 2005 at Mexican newspaper
'' La Jornada'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Remi Jazz saxophonists Mexican jazz musicians Living people Musicians from Mexico City Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century saxophonists