The idea of recording this album began during my (Chacal del Tamborazo) trip through Mexico at the end of December 2023 when I was playing some concerts in Chapala with Juan Castañon and on one of those days we were listening to his new production titled INTERSTELLAR NAO 4TET where Juan Castañon, Itzam Cano, Gabriel Lauber and Rick Countryman recorded at the Sismo Studios of my colleague double bassist and improviser Luis Ortega located in Coyoacàn, Mexico City, at that moment the idea came to me to take some recordings with me to my country of residence which is Canada, with friends and improvising musicians that I admire. This first album called Aztlán is one of those 5 productions that were made during my stay in Mexico that I hope you enjoy as I did where music, friendship and art dance hand in hand in each sound of this improvised music session.
Don Malfon - baritone and alto sax
Arturo Bàez - double bass
Chacal del Tamborazo - drums
Recorded December 23, 2023 at Sismo Studio, Mexico city by Luis Ortega. Mixed and mastered by Luis Ortega.
Cover design - Chacal del Tamborazo
Executive production - The Chacal del Tamborazo Recordings and NobleProg Mexico
The title of this album is dedicated to this great Mexico City.
Aztlán is the ancestral home of the Aztec peoples. Astekah is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan". Aztlan is mentioned in several ethnohistorical sources dating from the colonial period, and while they each cite varying lists of the different tribal groups who participated in the migration from Aztlan to central Mexico, the Mexica who went on to found Mexico-Tenochtitlan are mentioned in all of the accounts.
Historians have speculated about the possible location of Aztlan and tend to place it either in northwestern Mexico or the Southwestern United States, although whether Aztlan represents a real location or is purely mythological is a matter of debate.
credits
released December 23, 2023
I want to thank everyone who made this sound journey possible, to my mother, father and siblings for being part of my life and especially Izabela for her unconditional support.
“May all beings that exist, weak or strong, long, large, medium, short, small or thick.
May all beings that exist, known or unknown, near or far, born or unborn, may all beings without exception be happy.
Let no one deceive or despise another person anywhere, let no one wish harm to others in anger.
Just as a mother protects her only daughter or son at the cost of her own life, in the same way one must cultivate a limitless heart towards all beings.
May thoughts of love fill the whole world. Up, down and throughout, without any obstruction, without hatred, without enmity.
Standing, walking, sitting or lying down, while awake, one should cultivate this meditation of love. Her life will bring heaven to Earth. “Namu Amida Butsu.”
“What we express is already within us. It is us. The work of creativity is not of making the material to come, but of removing obstacles so the creation can flow naturally.”
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