Germán Bringas (Mexico City, 1965) is a Mexican

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

and

extended techniques In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

, composer, producer and performer.

Bio

Germán Bringas began studying classical piano at the age of 7, which he continued for 7 more years. Bringas has a type of

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

, which allows him to relate and perceive colors among with sounds. At the age of 16 he met

Carlos Castaneda Carlos César Salvador Arana (December 25, 1925 – April 27, 1998), better known as Carlos Castaneda, was an American anthropologist and writer. Starting in 1968, Castaneda published a series of books that describe a training in shamanism t ...

, who influenced him, especially on the subject and study of

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

. At the age of 23, motivated by taking distance from classical jazz and

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

, he began to explore free jazz, improvisation, sound experimentation and extended techniques, influenced by authors such as

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

and

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

, at which time he moved to a country house outside Mexico City, the birthplace of his sons Sim Bringas and Iván Bringas, also musicians. In 1991, he founded Jazzorca Récords, a record label made aiming to self-producing his recordings; in 1995 the project expanded to the opening of Jazzorca café, a musical venue in the Portales neighborhood pioneering devoted to the weekly presentation of genres different from classical jazz Mexico City venues such as free jazz, improvisation and sound experimentation. Bringas composes and produces music both individually and in ensembles of diverse conformation (Zero Point), including orchestral projects (La Orkezta de los 13 Zalbajes). In 2003, in the context of the Radar Mexico festival, Bringas was selected by John Zorn to perform and conduct with a 14-piece orchestra his ''

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

''. Bringas has collaborated and performed with musicians such as Scott Forrey, Fred Frith,

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, N ...

, John Zorn,

Tatsuya Yoshida (born 9 January 1961) is a Japanese musician, drummer and composer who is the only consistent member of the renowned progressive rock duo Ruins, as well as of Koenji Hyakkei. He is also a member of the progressive rock trios Korekyojinn and Da ...

Shelley Hirsch Shelley Hirsch (born June 9, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York) is an American vocalist, performance artist, composer, improviser, and writer. She won a DAAD Residency Grant in Berlin 1992, a Prix Futura award in 1993, and multiple award ...

, Hans Tammen, Ursel Schlicht, Morio, Kathrin Lemke, Robert Michler, among others. He is also a musical instrument manufacturer such steel tongue drums.

Works

* ''Caminatas'' (Jazzorca Récords, 1990) * ''Piano Solos'' ( Jazzorca Récords, 1990) * ''Nuevos Rasgos'' (Jazzorca Récords, 1990) * ''Improvisaciones En N.Y.'' (Jazzorca Récords, 1994) * ''Ser doble'' (Jazzorca Récords, 1994) * ''El salto'' (Jazzorca Récords, 1996) * ''La triste maquina de hacer arroz (''Jazzorca-Option Sonica, 1997) * ''Tank tromp'' (Jazzorca Récords, 2011) * ''Túnel hacia ti'' (Smile C, 2021)

Collaborations

* ''Le nut le'' (Jazzorca Records, Smogless Records, 1998) with Sergio Bustamante * ''Las calles de plata de la Portales'' (Sony Music, 1998) with Alejandra Arellano and Rodrigo Castelán * ''Germán Bringas y el Engrane Amarillo'' (Jazzorca Records, Smogless Records, 1999) with Fred Frith and Chris Cutler * ''Zona de desfragmentación I and II'' (two boxes of 7 discs, 2005-2008) * ''Ensamble Libre de Ritmos Africanos'' (Jazzorca, 2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bringas, German Living people 1965 births Mexican jazz saxophonists Avant-garde jazz musicians Jazz fusion musicians Experimental musicians 21st-century saxophonists Male jazz composers 21st-century jazz composers 20th-century jazz composers Musicians from Mexico City