Our current Spotlight Artist Yasser Tejeda brings the best of several musical worlds into one engaging mix that touches upon Dominican tradition, reaches deeply into modern rock and fusion sounds, and stretches the idea of Latin Jazz to the further reaches of its boundaries. Their use of merengue, palo, and more Dominican rhythms brings a refreshing edge into the Latin Jazz world rarely touched upon by most musicians. Their use of the rhythms goes beyond the simple placement of a merengue underneath some jazz changes; they creatively blend each style with a combination of rock energy and jazz sophistication. The group cleverly finds connections between the traditional music of their heritage and the current music of their generation, delivering an intoxicating mix with a wide appeal that’s not afraid to challenge the listener. They approach this mix with an interesting balance of respect and no holds barred musicality that resonates with an unmistakable identity and charges forward with a passionate drive to express that distinct personality. Tejeda’s ingenious songwriting and solid guitar skills lead the group with style, guiding the ensemble with a clean crisp sound at times while roaring into a chaotic sense of forward motion full of distorted shredding elsewhere. Tejeda’s musicians follow his lead with confidence and commitment, even taking the charge to push their leader to greater heights.

Tejeda has obviously put extensive thought and time into the development of his musical identity, and fortunately he puts the same type of energy into promoting it, so you can find him extensively online. You can become friends with Tejeda at his MySpace page and check out the extensive streaming music and live videos. If you’d like to listen to some of Tejeda’s music, join his street team, check out photos, or become a fan, take a spin over to his Reverb Nation page and get the full scoop. Maybe you’d like to hire Tejeda and Palotre, so you need more information - you can find it all at his Sonic Bids page, including photos, video, audio, and bio. You might want to make a more personal connection with Tejeda, so the perfect place would be his Facebook page where you can start a conversation on his wall and stay up to date on the latest news. Get the real time updates from Tejeda about his performances, recordings, and more by following him on Twitter - check out his Twitter page HERE. You can watch Tejeda and Palotre in action on his YouTube page, and stream videos from their studio session as well as some of Tejeda’s performances with the group Untapped. There’s plenty of possibilities to learn more about Tejeda online, so take advantage of the links and dive into Tejeda’s music.

There’s no better way to get closer to an artist than to carry their music with you though, and Tejeda is allowing you the possibility to do just that - he has generously contributed the track “Mezclansa” to the LJC Listening Center! Head over to the Listening Center now, download the track, load it onto your iPod, and get a feel for this exciting music. Once you do, you’re going to want to hear more; then it’s time to pick up the full album - believe me, you’ll be glad that you did! So head over the LJC Listening Center and check out “Mezclansa” - it’s Tejeda’s gift to you. Enjoy it!

After you download “Mezclansa” from the LJC Listening Center, take a look below to learn more about Tejeda and Palotre. I’ve included some biographical information Tejeda, and then some background information about the group as well as a quote about the album. Beneath that, you’ll find a video of the group performing the song “Coconut Grove” from the album. There’s a lot to like here, so take the opportunity to hear it all - enjoy!

Yasser Tejeda & Palotre
Yasser Tejeda was born in 1985 and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At the age of 11, he began lessons with a private teacher. After a few years he enrolled in the National Conservatory of Music in Santo Domingo and in 2004 took private lessons with David Fiuczynski. At the age of 17 he began his musical career doing gigs, recordings and concerts outside the Dominican Republic in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Shea Stadium, and United Palace. He has played with numerous famous artists from the Dominican Republic such as Grupo Negros, Ilegales, Panky y Los Manolos, Luis Dias, Xiomara Fortuna, Tony Vicioso, Irka Mateo, Jose Duluc, Roldan Marmol and Marassa. In January 2007 he was awarded the World Scholarship Tour from Berklee College of Music. Entering the school a year after, in the Spring of 2008, Yasser Tejeda has performed with Skip Smith, Jetro Da Silva, Ron Madhi, David Fiuczynski, Jovol Bell, Kyle Miles, Tim Turner and others. Most recently, he has been working toward the release of his first album as a composer, arranger and producer: Mezclansa, recorded in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dec 07 Jan 08

Equally well-versed in Caribbean roots, popular and jazz musical idioms, Palotre is without a doubt one of the most exciting musical projects to emerge out of the contemporary Caribbean. These young Dominican musicians have successfully undertaken the difficult task of fusing a wide variety of genres and taking them to a new level. Their focus on the traditional and popular music of the Dominican Republic, such as palos, gagá and merengue, is particularly refreshing, given that the Dominican Republic is a nation of great musical complexity and achievements that has remained undeservedly marginalized on the world music stage. Also significant—for cultural as well as political reasons—is Palotre’s musical exploration of the porous boundaries between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, sister nations that have a long tragic history of conflict. Members of the youngest generation of a venerable lineage of Dominican musical giants like Xiomara Fortuna, Luis Dias, Juan Luis Guerra, Tavito Vasquez, Tony Vicioso, Duluc, Irka Mateo and Michel Camilo, Palotre honors their elder’s trajectories and innovations and at the same time forge a path of their own.

Bill Milkowski On Yasser Tejeda & Palotre New Album Mezclansa
Palotre invigorates the bachata and merengue tradition with a post-Hendrix, post-Jaco, post-Bob Marley aesthetic that is positively brimming with hip ideas and an edgy electric quality while remaining fundamentally rooted in groove. Led by the exciting guitarist-composer Yasser Tejeda, a talent worthy of wider recognition, this accomplished band from the Dominican Republic carves out some fresh new territory on the modern jazz scene with Mezclansa

———-
Yasser Tejeda & Palotre Performing “Coconut Grove”

———-
Check Out These Related Posts:
Spotlight: The Gardener, Darwin Noguera’s Evolution Quintet
Spotlight: Para Los Engreidos, Manante
Spotlight: Afroperuano, Yuri Juarez
Spotlight: The Sonido Moderno Project, Coto Pincheira

———-
Click here to have these posts delivered via email. Or, click here to subscribe to the full text RSS feed and never miss another post!

Stumble it!