Uriel Reyes

This enigmatic multi-instrumentalist draws from the diverse culture and history of his Mexican homeland, as well as his early experiences playing in progressive-rock bands south of the border. Reyes combines flute, pre-Columbian instruments, and percussion with synthesizers and voice to cast a spell of ritualistic intensity. Like shadows from Mexico's sultry and savage past, his music has a dark quality to it that sometimes scares off the unprepared, but adventurous listeners will find plenty to admire in his evocation of jungles, jaguars, and Aztec rites. Though his albums are often difficult to find, most of his imported releases are well worth the extra effort and expense involved.
Reyes died Saturday, February 7, 2009, of a heart attack at his recording studio in Mexico City, he was 57.

This is a nice little selection of the chamber music of Darius Milhaud featuring clarinet, violin, and piano in varying combinations, beginning with the brief Suite for all three instruments. There's a gentleness and wittiness in most of this music – although Milhaud could also be dolorous, for example in the introduction of the Suite's finale – primarily because he drew on themes from his stage music for the Suite, Scaramouche, and the Cinéma fantaisie d'après Le bœuf sur le toit, not to mention the presence of his trademark infectious Brazilian rhythms. The Violin Sonata No. 2 and the Clarinet Sonatina are slightly more serious in mood, and in the case of the Sonatina, more harmonically adventurous. The three musicians here – clarinetist Jean-Marc Fessard, violinist Frédéric Pélassy, and pianist Eliane Reyes – work excellently together to bring the music to life. Their ensemble work in the Suite is sharply precise. Even in the Sonata and Sonatina, there is a sense that it's not all just about the violin or clarinet. Pélassy and Fessard allow Reyes to bring out the piano part to show that the works are often more like true duets, for example in Scaramouche's dizzying opening or the Violin Sonata's Vif movement. The Fantaisie is a more of a duet almost by necessity because there's so much going on in it, but without a doubt it's the violin that gets the spotlight with some fancy effects (such as playing in two keys at once) and even a cadenza that's not in the original work. The three musicians also give detailed attention to coloring in a natural, instinctive-sounding way.

Once you enter the surreal, shaman-spirit filled world of Jorge Reyes, there's no return to the mundane and ordinary so called "new age music". Of course, Jorge would be deeply insulted if you called his creations new age. It's ethnic ambiance with a mixture of ponderous and sometimes sinister sounding electronic manipulations. This album is a fine gem that introduces those spiritually inquisitive to his music…in a sense, it is more or less a complilation of his other numerous works.

Violinist Sylvia Huang, a prizewinner at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2019, and Éliane Reyes, the renowned virtuoso pianist, present a new disc bubbling with elegance and femininity. Linked by a keen musical rapport and an irrepressible friendship, they declare their love for Belgian Romantic music, embodied by two emblematic composers: Eugène Ysaÿe, a natural musical companion whom every violinist has encountered or dreamt about, and Guillaume Lekeu, a dazzling musical genius taken from us all too soon. This recording reveals some skilfully chosen gems by Ysaÿe, including two unpublished early pieces, the Mazurka de concert and the Grande Valse de concert (the latter a world premiere). Lekeu is represented by the sublime Sonata for piano and violin, dedicated to Eugène Ysaÿe; the musicians had the opportunity to consult, with an almost fervent enthusiasm, the original manuscript in Verviers, the birthplace of both the composer and Éliane Reyes. A radiant disc, overwhelming in its sincerity.

Reyes continues his homage to his native Mexican American roots and his Shamanic practices. The ritualistic music on this CD is performed on acoustic ethnic instruments only. There are no electronic enhancements beyond amplification. This highly inspirational soundworld is steeped on the traditions of Reyes' Mexican heritage. The rituals predate time itself; they honor the spirits that begat life and time. Deep listeners will journey back to an era when time did not exist and did not matter. They will question and then validate their own existence. Reyes uses the primitive instruments to create an aura of realism and authenticity.