Considered by critics around the world to be one of today’s finest Latin jazz artists, Mexican-born vibraphonist and composer Victor Mendoza’s career includes performances with his own group and as guest soloist around the globe. Presentations include guest appearances with the World Festival Orchestra under the direction of Paquito D’Rivera, the Milan Svoboda Orchestra in Prague, sold-out shows at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and in Tel Aviv, and as soloist with the Carlos Chávez Symphony Orchestra in Mexico City.
Previous recordings and performances with his own group, as well as with artists such as Paquito D’Rivera, Danilo Pérez, Michel Camilo, Claudio Roditi, Giovanni Hidalgo, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, and Antonio Sánchez, have earned him the respect of critics and jazz fans around the globe. “This is Why,” one of Victor’s previous recordings, led Latin Beat Magazine to name him one of the Outstanding Latin Jazz Artists of the Year. “Black Bean Blues” is Victor’s most recent recording and was named one of the best Latin jazz recordings of the year by Modern Drummer Magazine and led Jazziz Magazine to dub him “the genre’s leading vibraphone practitioner” and “one of today’s most resourceful composers.” The Smithsonian Institute has included “Black Bean Blues” in “Latin Jazz: The Perfect Combination,” its first major exhibition about this genre.
As a professor at the Berklee College of Music, Victor has earned an international reputation as a jazz educator, regularly conducting master classes at major music schools and universities around the world. Recent clinic and concert presentations include international conferences at PASIC, IAJE, Festival Internacional de la Marimba (Chiapas, Mexico), Festival Internacional de la Patagonia (Argentina), “Perkuska” (Poland), and the “Journées de la Percussion” festival in Paris.
Victor’s educational DVD, “Latin Jazz Grooves” which focuses on Afro-Cuban performance and improvisation rhythmic concepts, is being released by Berklee Press/Hal Leonard this fall.
VICTOR MENDOZA - TRIBUTE TO MILT JACKSON
VICTOR MENDOZA - BLACK BEAN BLUES (1998)
Victor Mendoza -
vibraphone
Jim Odgren - alto & soprano sax
Alain Mallet - piano
Fernando Huergo - e. bass
Antonio Sánchez - drums & timbales
Ernesto Díaz - congas and timbales
Renato Thoms - congas and bongó
Mark White - guitar
Albert Leusink - trumpet
Walter Flores - piano
Chapina-Chapin Black Bean Blues Lo Que No Te Dije Tica Linda Cafe Quemado Cyrano's Wish Susurros Del Corazon Chacalonga The Way You Look Tonight
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