Gabriel Ayala<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />....

Portraits: Music for Classical Guitar....

Canyon Records....

www.canyonrecords.com....

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Gabriel Ayala is a member of Yaqui people of southern <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />....Arizona.... and, man, can he play classical guitar! As I listened to this CD, I became more and more impressed with his technique, which is amazing, to say the least, but also his great taste in compositions and his knack for getting straight to the heart of a piece. The 11 tracks on this album cover a lot of ground, ranging from the Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz to minimalist Erik Satie to English singer and lute player John Dowland to no less than Johann Sebastian Bach, who is represented by a mind-blowing treatment of “Toccata & Fugue in D minor.” Despite this being a classical guitar album, you will be pleasantly surprised at the assorted styles, moods and tempos here. What makes this a “highly recommended” CD to your customers is Ayala’s virtuosity which flat out blew me away.

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Bill Binkelman

New Age Retailer....
 

Happy New Year to everyone!  Just wanted to share this article that came out on Jan 1st from Native Peoples Magazine.  It is the largest Native American Publication and I was very fortunate to be a part of it.  What a great way to start of the new year...on a National level.

-G

Canyon Records: Exploring The World Of Classical And Indigenous Music

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Canyon Records has been the leading Native American Music label almost since its inception in 1951, but they have always kept their ears open to the music of indigenous people from around the world. In the last decade in particular, R. Carlos Nakai, Canyon’s best-known artist, has embarked on a series of projects that could easily fit under the world music umbrella. He’s collaborated with Tibetan flute player Nawang Khechog on In a Distant Place, with Hawaiian slack key guitarist Keola Beamer on Our Beloved Land, and played Jewish, Arabic, and Turkish influenced melodies with classically trained cellist Udi Bar-David on Voyagers. This past June, Canyon officially launched their new Explorer Series, a subdivision of the label that will release Classical and world music. Label head Robert Doyle explains the rational behind this new series.

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“The Explorer series was created to give a home and identity to our non-Native American projects,” Dolye says. “Canyon has a strong identity as a Native American music company, and I it’s sometimes difficult explaining why we released non-Native titles.  ‘Explorer’ refers to an exploration of music that comes from a distant geography as well as music that comes from a distant genre of music. ....

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“Canyon started in 1951 when Ray Boley was asked to record a Navajo singer for a theater production. Ray was so impressed by Ed Lee Natay, that he felt the rest of the world should hear him. When he released Natay, Navajo Singer, at a booth at the 1951 Arizona State Fair the Hopi jeweler next to him suggested he record Hopi music and Ray followed up on the idea. The label began because Ray was motivated by the love of music, without worrying about commercial constraints.....

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 “Canyon is still guided by Ray’s example - try something and see what happens. Besides, when everything in the music industry is risky, risks have less meaning in the decision process. Collecting and bringing traditional music to the world is something we’ve always done; now we’ll be doing it with cultures from other parts of the world.”....

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Stephen Butler, Canyon’s director of production, supervised the label’s first world music titles. Sapera: Snake Charmer Music of North India is the first album of snake charmer music ever released in the west, recorded by Butler on a trip to India. The Buddhist Chants are live recordings from a monastery in Nepal. Bina & Pranav Mehta live in Phoenix and sing traditional Indian ghazals (love poems about unattainable love, usually union with God) and bhajans (devotional songs based on traditional ragas). Moonlit Taj showcases their expressive vocals with arrangements that mix traditional (sitar, tabla) and western (guitar, keyboards) instruments, while Cosmic Dawn features more traditional renditions of bhajans.....

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Canyon will also explore the world of classical music with Gabriel Ayala’s Portraits. Ayala (Yaqui) is a guitarist who brings a precise tone and great passion to the music he plays. The Tucson based artist is one of today’s most impressive young classical guitarists. “I grew up playing in rock and blues bands,” Ayala says. “In high school in Corpus Christi (TX), my music teacher played me an album of classical guitar and I was overwhelmed by it’s musicality. I had to drop my guitar pick and learn how to use all the fingers on my right hand, but I became passionate about it.” By the time he was a senior, Ayala was good enough to earn a scholarship in music performance at Texas A&M. He went on to get a Masters in music at the University of Arizona, and since graduation, he’s been an in demand player on the classical circuit. Portraits includes Bach’s “Toccata & Fugue in D-Minor,” in an original transcription by Ayala. Ayala believes it’s the first time the piece has been recorded on guitar. “The album includes Baroque, Romantic, Classical and 20^th Century compositions, as well as Scottish and Irish folks songs,” Ayala says. “Pieces that show off the diversity of the instrument and take you on a musical journey.”....

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This may be Canyon’s first formal classical outing, but Doyle isn’t worried about breaking into the market. “The classical market is one of the steadier genres for selling CDs. Classical music lovers abhor MP3s and a classical title can remain viable for a long time. In the marketing of our previous classical titles with R. Carlos Nakai - Spirit Horses, Native Tapestry, Two World Concerto - we had difficulty getting these titles in classical section of stores because Nakai was not perceived as a classical artist. Putting these titles and Ayala’s Portraits under the Canyon Explorer: Classical logo will give them an identity they never had.”....