Juan García Esquivel

Here we will post everything about the Mexican master also known as "The King of Space Age Pop"

Juan García Esquivel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate.
Juan García Esquivel

Background information
Also known as Esquivel!
Born January 20, 1918(1918-01-20)
Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Died January 3, 2002 (aged 83)
Jiutepec, Morelos
Genre(s) Easy Listening
Lounge
Space age pop
Exotica
Occupation(s) Arranger
Conductor
Bandleader
Instrument(s) Piano
Label(s) RCA, Reprise

Juan García Esquivel (January 20, 1918 – January 3, 2002) often simply known as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and film score composer. He's known today mostly for creating unique jazz and lounge music. Esquivel is sometimes called "The King of Space Age Pop" and "The Busby Berkley of Cocktail Music". Esquivel is considered one of the foremost exponents of a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop that became known (in retrospect) as "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music".

He was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, and his family moved to Mexico City in 1928 where he studied at the UNAM.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Music
• 2 Influences
• 3 Discography
• 4 See also
• 5 External links

[edit] Music

Esquivel is considered the king of a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop known today as Lounge music. Esquivel's musical style was highly idiosyncratic, and although elements sound like his contemporaries, he had many stylistic tics that distinguished his music and made it instantly recognizable, including exotic percussion, wordless vocals, virtuoso piano runs, and exaggerated dynamic shifts in volume. He used many jazz-like elements, but other than his piano solos, there is no improvisation and the works are tightly, meticulously, even perfectionistically arranged by Esquivel himself.

His orchestration tended toward the very lush; he combined an orchestra, his own heavily-ornamented piano style, a mixed chorus, and a long list of novel instruments, such as Chinese bells, mariachi bands, whistling, and numerous percussion instruments. The chorus was often called upon to sing only nonsense syllables, most famously "zu-zu" and "pow!" A survey of Esquivel's recordings reveals a fondness for glissandi, sometimes on a half-valved trumpet, sometimes on a kettle drum, but most frequently on pitched percussion instruments and slide guitars.

Esquivel's use of stereo recording was legendary, occasionally using two bands recording simultaneously in separate studios, such as on his album Latin-Esque (1962). The song "Mucha Muchacha" makes particularly mind-bending use of the separation, with the chorus and brass rapidly alternating sides.

He arranged many traditional Mexican songs like "Bésame Mucho","La Bamba","El Manisero" (Cuban/Mexican) and "La Bikina"; also Brazilian songs like "Aquarela do Brasil" (also known simply as "Brazil"),"Surfboard" and "Agua de Beber", and composed spicy lounge-like novelties such as "Mini Skirt","Yeyo","Latin-Esque","Mucha Muchacha" and "Whatchamacallit". He was commissioned to compose the music of a Mexican children's TV show Odisea Burbujas.

His concerts also featured elaborate light shows, years before effects like that became popular in live music. He performed in Las Vegas on several occasions, often as the opening act for Frank Sinatra.

Several compilations of Esquivel's music were issued starting with Space Age Bachelor Pad Music in 1994. The apparent success of these releases led to reissues of several of Esquivel's albums. The first reissues were compiled by Irwin Chusid, who also produced the first CD reissues of Raymond Scott and The Langley Schools Music Project.

The last recording Esquivel worked on was Merry Christmas from the Space-Age Bachelor Pad in 1996, for which he did a voiceover on a track by the band Combustible Edison, as well as including several obscure tracks from his past sessions. The last CD released during his lifetime, See It In Sound, was actually recorded in 1960, but was not released at the time because the record company considered it wasn't commercial enough. When finally released in 1998, it exhibited very unusual and introspective stylings absent from his other works, including a version of "Brazil" which is played as a musical soundscape of a man bar-hopping, and the band playing different renditions of "Brazil" at each bar.

[edit] Influences

Kronos Quartet recorded a string quartet arrangement of Esquivel's song "Mini Skirt" for their album Nuevo.

[edit] Discography

• Las Tandas de Juan Garcia Esquivel (1956)
• Cabaret Tragico (1957)
• To Love Again (1957)
• Other Worlds Other Sounds (1958)
• Four Corners of the World (1958)
• Exploring New Sounds in Hi-Fi/Stereo (1958)
• The Ames Brothers: Hello Amigos (1959)
• Strings Aflame (1959)
• The Living Strings: In a Mellow Mood (1959)
• Infinity in Sound, Vol. 1 (1960)
• Infinity in Sound, Vol. 2 (1961)
• Latin-Esque (1962)
• More of Other Worlds Other Sounds (1962)
• The Genius of Esquivel (1967)
• 1968 Esquivel!! (1968)
• Burbujas (1979)
• Odisea Burbujas (1980)
• Vamos al Circo (1981)
• Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music (1994)
• Music From a Sparkling Planet (1995)
• Merry Christmas from the Space-Age Bachelor Pad (1996)
• See It in Sound (1998) (Recorded in 1960)
• Live in Las Vegas (2000?) (Unauthorized bootleg release)
• The Sights and Sounds of Esquivel (2005)

[edit] See also

• Exotica
• Space age pop

[edit] External links

• http://www.bar-none.com/bios/esquibio_space.html
• SpaceAgePop.com on Esquivel
• Weirdomusic.com on Esquivel

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Garc%C3%ADa_Esquivel"
Categories: 1918 births | 2002 deaths | Exotica | Bandleaders | Mexican musicians

Latin-esque Esquivel

Mi favorito...
Cover art by Juan Soriano, a famous Mexican painter...

Vereda tropical
Besame mucho

Early Esquivel...

On 2007-06-21 07:52, cheeky half wrote:

ch

Other worlds other sounds (1958)

On 2004-07-01 07:53, freddiefreelance wrote:

I found this for sale on eil.com.

...and the only band playing the large-ensemble music of Esquivel! Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica.

Stay tuned for something new too...

mr. ho

The Ames Brothers backed by Esquivel y su Orquesta.
Great record even with the Ames Brothers in it and if Esquivel´s genius is somewhat subdued. :)

By the way, their spanish is real good.

Mahalo Mr. Ho! Mahalo Mister Naufrago! Please keep sharing!
As an anecdote, (I am not an expert) I think Latin-esque was the first record in "full stereo" ever made...

[ Edited by: Zeta 2009-04-07 20:26 ]

On 2009-04-07 20:22, Zeta wrote:
Mahalo Mr. Ho! Mahalo Mister Naufrago! Please keep sharing!
As an anecdote, (I am not an expert) I think Latin-esque was the first record in "full stereo" ever made...

[ Edited by: Zeta 2009-04-07 20:26 ]

Neither am I.
But I´m a Latin-esque fetishist for sure.

[ Edited by: Mister Naufrago 2009-04-08 10:15 ]

Words of wisdom from the man himself on my autographed copy of a Puerto Rican pressing of "The Best of Esquivel."

(Note: I am not "Milo," but I found this in his record pile and bought it for a dollar.)

Mahalo Gracelander and Mister Naufrago! Nice stuff you got there...
Last Sunday, I was in la Laguinilla flea market (as usual) and saw about 15 Esquivel records, all in the same place... All in near mint condition... he was asking for 5000 pesos, about 450$ dollars for all of them or 40$ dollars for each one... What is the average price of an Esquivel record? I have paid an average 25 Euros for mine... What do you think?

That price is loco.
If you are looking for a good investment, I´m afraid Esquivel records are not the answer. That seller just has the "it´s old, so it worth big bucks syndrome".
Very common.
All is about offer an demand, you know.
They pressed millions of copies of his records all over the world and most of them never have been out of print to this day.
And regarding to demand, we two sure do love his music, but the Esquivel fan club is, well, ¿limited?
It´s true that there are some rare and hard to find Esquivel records, but you will not find mucho "Sonorama" there.

Odisea burbujas

Original Music by Juan Garcia Esquivel

[ Edited by: Zeta 2009-12-24 09:59 ]