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Turiya Mareya is a musician equally qualified in two seemingly different aesthetics: her early work in San Diego featured her piano and bass-clarinet in a spiritual, avant-garde context--and her current work showcases her mastery of the Afro-Latino rhythmic blend found in Cuba, Puerto Rico and other ports of the African diaspora.
"In the '70s, I only wanted to play free-improvising," says Mareya. "I did a lot of free things with Mark Dresser and Dave Millard, in a band called Future Primitive, and at the same time, I was playing in Mexican dance bands."
Eventually, Mareya moved into the world of Afro-Cuban music, which she heard a lot in Tijuana, where she lived for many years. She didn't view this change in direction as necessarily breaking from the free-music continuum, however.
"What the avant-garde was saying, was we're trying to find a new language, breaking down structures and developing deep, deep listening, so that it's almost telepathic," Mareya said. " When I moved into playing almost exclusively Latin rhythms...it's the same thing, except we don't have to break down the structures anymore, because we can go straight to God. The history of these rhythms is religious. They are prayers, they are rhythms that were created by indigenous people to contact God. When they are played correctly, you are plugging into God and you don't need to think of off-the-wall things to play, because you are connecting with the creator!"
Mareya just moved back to San Diego a few months ago, after 10 years away. On August 10, at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park, she will be featured in two different groups in concert.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/03/29045/
Opening the show will be the Women's Spirit Music Ensemble, a quintet featuring Mareya, Ayanna Hobson, Angela Patua, Toni Pope, and Mary Lou Valencia.
Mareya will also perform with the WorldBeat Afro-Latino Ensemble which will pair the Afro-Puerto Rican percussion of Irving Soto with the West African drumming of Nana Yaw Asiedu, along with Cuban bassist Ignacio Arango and trumpeter Paul Ruiz. Expect surprise appearances by other Latin-music heavyweights.
The WorldBeat Cultural Center is located at 2100 Park Blvd. Admission is free!
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/03/29044/
Turiya Mareya is a musician equally qualified in two seemingly different aesthetics: her early work in San Diego featured her piano and bass-clarinet in a spiritual, avant-garde context--and her current work showcases her mastery of the Afro-Latino rhythmic blend found in Cuba, Puerto Rico and other ports of the African diaspora.
"In the '70s, I only wanted to play free-improvising," says Mareya. "I did a lot of free things with Mark Dresser and Dave Millard, in a band called Future Primitive, and at the same time, I was playing in Mexican dance bands."
Eventually, Mareya moved into the world of Afro-Cuban music, which she heard a lot in Tijuana, where she lived for many years. She didn't view this change in direction as necessarily breaking from the free-music continuum, however.
"What the avant-garde was saying, was we're trying to find a new language, breaking down structures and developing deep, deep listening, so that it's almost telepathic," Mareya said. " When I moved into playing almost exclusively Latin rhythms...it's the same thing, except we don't have to break down the structures anymore, because we can go straight to God. The history of these rhythms is religious. They are prayers, they are rhythms that were created by indigenous people to contact God. When they are played correctly, you are plugging into God and you don't need to think of off-the-wall things to play, because you are connecting with the creator!"
Mareya just moved back to San Diego a few months ago, after 10 years away. On August 10, at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park, she will be featured in two different groups in concert.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/03/29045/
Opening the show will be the Women's Spirit Music Ensemble, a quintet featuring Mareya, Ayanna Hobson, Angela Patua, Toni Pope, and Mary Lou Valencia.
Mareya will also perform with the WorldBeat Afro-Latino Ensemble which will pair the Afro-Puerto Rican percussion of Irving Soto with the West African drumming of Nana Yaw Asiedu, along with Cuban bassist Ignacio Arango and trumpeter Paul Ruiz. Expect surprise appearances by other Latin-music heavyweights.
The WorldBeat Cultural Center is located at 2100 Park Blvd. Admission is free!
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/03/29044/