Patrick McMahon offers a guide to the thriving jazz scene in Mexico, including a list of artists to listen out for. You can enjoy most of these tracks in our Apple Music playlist ‘Mexican jazz today’
When thinking about jazz from Latin America, how often is it that Westerners will think of Mexico? In fact, the country sends a steady stream of talented musicians to the prestigious US music colleges and has produced a number of internationally successful players. Two immediate examples are Antonio Sánchez, who regularly plays drums for Pat Metheny and composed the acclaimed soundtrack for Birdman (2014), and Tino Contreras, who has been touring and recording around the world since the 1960s.
The capital Mexico City is fostering an active jazz scene that is increasingly popular and exciting, which, as one of Latin America’s most important cities, benefits from hosting many international musicians both passing through and settling permanently. Venues such as Zinco Jazz Club , Parker & Lenox and Casa Franca ensure there are numerous options for seeing jazz pretty much every day of the week in the city. Having seen so much great jazz here, I have put together a playlist of 10 pieces for Jazzwise readers that shows off some of the interesting music groups currently based in Mexico, which range from straight-ahead jazz quartets to marimba ensembles and modern electronic jazz groups.
Probably one of the most exciting and original jazz groups in Mexico at the moment, Filulas Juz combine together an eclectic range […]
This story is part of our ‘News from Around the Web’ publication, continue reading the story here: Jazz in Mexico today: a beginner’s guide
