Buzuq, Mijwiz, Nay, Rababa, Salamiyya, Ud
Acoustic Bass
Tabla, Percussion, Electronics, Metals
Expect the exotic when these three gentlemen get together....
LA WEEKLY
Racy, Miranda, Garcia Trio Concert
LOS ANGELES TIMES Concert pick of the week
ALI JIHAD RACY - Buzuq, Mijwiz, Nay,
Rababa, Salamiyya, Ud
Professor Racy is one of the world's foremost experts on Arab
music, credited with studying and documenting numerous musical
traditions throughout the Arab world. An accomplished performer,
composer, and ethnomusicologist, he has inspired a generation of
students and artists in this country and abroad.
Racy was born in Lebanon, where he performed regularly on
television and in concerts, while presenting a weekly radio
program on world music. Internationally known for his scholarly
work, he has conducted field research and is credited with over
75 publications. Topics include the laments of Lebanon, Bedouin
music, musical change and sound recording in early-20th century
Cairo, improvisation, music of the Arab Gulf region, and folk
instruments of the Near East.
At UCLA, Racy teaches seminars on the musical cultures of the
Middle East and is the director of the Near East Music Ensemble. He
has performed in major theaters, including Carnegie Hall, the
Kennedy Center, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and has
composed and performed music for television, feature and
documentary films. Included in his work is the ten-part series,
The Arabs, shown on British television and on PBS in the U.S.
Racy also joined the Kronos Quartet in the world premiere of his
Zaman Suite, which he composed for the Quartet, and has appeared
on a Kronos CD release. He has also performed on a number of
Middle Eastern instruments with the Sacramento Symphony and
Livermore-Amador Symphony in his compostion titled, The Arab
World: A Sea of Memories orchestrated by Arthur Barnes of
Stanford University.
REVIEWS
Racy's Ancient Egypt CD ...immaculately performed throughout...
a musical balm brimming with sublime consolation and reflection.
Selected as one of CD Review Magazine's 50 Definitive
World Music Recordings!
CD Review
Racy's dizzyingly refined nay solos are the real show-stoppers
The Outlook
Ali Jihad Racy swirled ecstatic Sufi melodies on his flutelike
nay...
Beethoven weaves warm ornaments around his melodies in the slow
(Ninth Symphony) movement, as Racy does on his nay.
Los Angeles Times
Selected Discography:
As Leader
Mystical Legacies - Ali Jihad Racy
Ancient Eqypt - Ali Jihad Racy
Taqaism - Ali Jihad Racy
As Sideman
Caravan - Kronos Quartet
Prince of Eqypt - Hans Zimmer
Material:Hallucination Engine - Bill Laswell
Vision ll:Spirit of Runi - Graeme Revell
Susurri - John Zeretzke
Hercules: The Legendary Journey - Joseph LoDuca
Jazayer Plus Ali Jihad Racy - Jazayer
Adam Rudolphıs Moving Pictures:Skyway - Adam Rudolph
Sweet Lies - Amos Gilkey
Drive - Amos Gilkey
Ancient Memories - Toni Hanna
Strictly Belly Dancing - Eddie Kochak
Laurice Peters Sings - Laurice Peters
Performance Credits:
Boothbay Harbor Pops Orchestra
Kenny Burrell, Billy Higgins,
Souhail Kaspar, Shujaat Khan, Kronos Quartet,
Livermore-Amador Symphony Orchestra, Cheb Mami,
Sayyid Makkawi, Roberto Miranda, Tito Puente,
Sacramento Symphony Orchestra,
Simon Shaheen, Sting,
Wadi al-Safi,
& others
for additional UCLA BIO info on Ali Jihad Racy visit
http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/ethnomusicology/Faculty/Racy/racy.htm
To see/hear a bio and welcome address from Ali Jihad Racy for the UCLA Near East
Ensemble
http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/systematic/Students/Pantelis/CDRom/Ensembles/NearEast/Direct.htm
To hear music samples of the UCLA Near East Ensemble under the direction of Ali
Jihad Racy
http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/systematic/Students/Pantelis/CDRom/Ensembles/NearEast/NearEas2.htm
Click here to download a clip compiled from the
Ensemble's live performance at the
1997 UCLA Spring Festival (size: 2.6Mb)
http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/systematic/Students/Pantelis/CDRom/Ensembles/NearEast/Perform.htm
ROBERTO MIGUEL MIRANDA - Acoustic Bass
Roberto Miguel Miranda, virtuoso bassist, prolific composer,
inspired teacher and respected member of the Los Angeles creative
music scene, has been a professional musician since the age of 15.
Following in the footsteps of his father, a percussionist,
Roberto first played congas, but switched to bass at age
seventeen. Player and instrument were an instant match, the
start of an illustrious career that has earned Roberto
international recognition and transported him throughout much of
the world.
As a young player, Roberto studied with jazz legends Ray Brown,
Red Mitchell, Red Callender and master classical musicians Bob
Stone, Dennis Trembly and Fred Tinsely of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. While earning a Masters Degree in Music from
USC, he received two grants from the National Endowment for the
Arts. These grants enabled him to score two compositions
for symphony strings, jazz band, bassoon, and trombone, one of
which, St. Michael, Servant of the Lord, was performed by the
Carson Symphony Orchestra.
A dynamic bassist, noted for his inventive, high-energy
improvisations and adept in both soulful arco passages and fleet
percussive lines, Roberto is fluent in all jazz idioms. He
has toured, played and recorded with an impressive array of jazz
artists - see Performance Credits.
He has recorded extensively, those albums with his
own group showcasing his successful blend of African-American,
Latin, and experimental jazz.
Today, Roberto Miranda balances a dual career as a performer and
teacher. He is on the faculty of the Department of Jazz
Studies at UCLA and also gives private instruction . A
dedicated teacher, he passes along the jazz tradition, his
performing skills and philosophy to his students. I have
all this information², he says, all this technique from a number
of great teachers.
REVIEWS
Sturdy walks and atonal filigree pour from his instrument with
equal grace
LA Style
The finest Bass Player in Los Angeles
JAZZ WEEKLY
The long, intense probing passage he educes from his instrument
are a constant source of amazement
Bass Player
Bassist Roberto Miranda flew all over his acoustic instrument,
strumming, snapping strings, often playing with blinding speed
Los Angeles Times
Stunning bass work that never ceases to astound
LA Jazz Scene
Selected Discography:
As Leader
The Creator's Musician - Roberto Miranda
Raphael - Roberto Miranda
As Sideman
WaterMusic - James Newton
Dauhwe - John Carter
Ocean - Thomas Tedesco
Lost In L.A. - Bobby Bradford
Live at I.U.C.C. - Horace Tapscott
Slice of Life - Vinny Golia
East 101 - Gary Bias
5 year plan - Tim Berne
Waves - Charles Lloyd
Hilltop View - Glen Horiuchi
Performance Credits:
Tim Berne, Arthur Blythe,
Bobby Bradford, Kenny Burrell, John Carter,
Vinny Golia, Glenn Horiuchi, Charles Lloyd, Shelly Manne,
David Murray, James Newton, Horace Tapscott,
Cecil Taylor.
CHRISTOPHER A. GARCIA - Tabla, Hand
Percussion, Miscellaneous Percussion, Electronics
Christopher was born, raised, and still resides in East L.A.
(Never to be confused with West L.A.). His background includes
performances in a wide variety of musical settings including;
Jazz, Rock, World Music, traditional Mexican music, percussion
ensemble, soundtracks, and cartoon music.
He attributes his musical growth to his studies with Professor
John Bergamo, Pandit Tarnath Rao, Swapan Chadhouri and Leonice
Shinemann where he studied tabla, while attending California
Institute of the Arts on a full scholarship. Chris was also a
member of the award winning Cal Arts Percussion Ensemble in 1979.
He attributes his style(?) to Listening to EVERYTHING,
logging in thousands of hours, practicing, rehearsing,performing
and touring constantly with musicians interested in stretching
and reinventing themselves.
Christophersı drumming is unusual in that it incorporates
not only the standard rhythms and their permutations, but also a
fluency with odd time signatures and sonic textures, which he
seamlessly incorporates into his playing.
His fascination for New Music and Sound as well as the advent of
MIDI technology allow him the possibility of combining textures
that have never before been available for the percussionist in
live performance. Playing tabla next to state of the art MIDI
instruments and being able to blend them musically is a challenge
he continually explores.
He has been the drummer/percussionist of several critically
acclaimed ensembles including:
Continuum - fusion for the 21st Century
Quarteto Nuevo - a world music improvising chamber
ensemble, including classical guitar,
pipa(the Chinese Lute), Oboe/Saxophones, bass,
and North Indian and Middle Eastern percussion
The Michael Vlatkovich Ensembles - Avant trombonist
The Jihad Racy, Roberto Miranda, Christopher Garcia - world
music trio
the World Music Percussion Quartet with Gustavo Aguilar, Park Je
Chun, Takinojo Mochizuki,
and duets with Drummer/percussionist Alex Cline,
guitarist Nels Cline and
multi woodwinds master Vinny Golia.
REVIEWS
Garcia, an excellent percussionist, really pushes the group,
especially in the solo sections....his sparkling cymbal work
coloring the background...²
Cadence Jazz Magazine
Garcia's playing is vibrant and alive with passion, humor and
a good deal of technical prowess, not to mention the breadth of
vision necessary to effectively translate such an
unpredictable stream of music. And the fact that the trio seem
perfectly at home with unpredictably and the endless world
of musical possibilities it presents makes them perhaps
The Weekly Alibi
Selected Discography:
Passages - Continuum
Continuum - Continuum
No Zee Two S - Michael Vlatkovich Trio
Live In Toronto - Michael Vlatkovich Sextet
Why Donıt You See Me?- Michael Vlatkovich Quintet
Obligatos For Terpsichorean Dipsomaniacs - Mark Weber
Outcast - The Moscow Symphony
Performance Credits:
John Bergamo,
Alex Cline, Nels Cline,
Cal Arts Percussion Ensemble,
Collage Dance Theater, Continuum, Arthur Jarvinen,
The Moscow Symphony, The Northern Lights Ensemble,
Luis Villegas, Michael Pierre Vlatkovich,
World Percussion Quartet - featuring Gustavo Aguilar -
percussion from the Americas,
Park Je Chun- percussion from Korea,
Mochizuki Takinojo- percussion from Japan,
The World Jazz Ensemble, Jeanette Wrate,
& others