From Tlahuitoltepec to Pico’s Oaxacan Corridor
Saturday, September 21st, 2024
The Stringed Crane Conservatory is very pleased to invite you to the saz workshop for an evening of improvised and traditional music with Facundo Vargas on trombone and special guest Paco Casanova on keyboard.
Facundo “Kunt” Vargas joins us at the Stringed Crane from Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec Mixe Oaxaca, where he began playing traditional Sones Oaxaceños as a child. His passion for musical expression has led him to engage with a broad variety of styles. Yet, even his experimental solo practice is, like his other music, rooted in the Sierra Mixe “hills, rituals, offerings, mountains, clouds, myths… And thus creates its own sound, with hints of jazz and free music, always keeping in mind the past and the Ayuujk sonic identity.”
From Tlahuitoltepec to Pico’s Oaxacan Corridor
Saturday, September 21st, 2024
At
the Stringed Crane Conservatory
3718 1/2 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019
Parking is generally available on the surrounding blocks.
First show - Doors open at 7:15, performance begins at 7:30pm*
Second Show - Doors open at 9:15, performance begins at 9:30pm*
Light refreshments will be served.
General admission $15
We recommend buying tickets in advance as seats are limited.
*Please note that due to the nature of the space, we won't be able to seat guests who arrive after a performance has begun.
Facundo "Kunt" Vargas Jimenez
Facundo Vargas is a musician, archaeologist and visual artist from the municipality of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, Mixes. His native language is Ayuujk. He has been dedicated to music since childhood and has more than ten years of experience as a professional musician on the trombone. He has participated in various projects and musical styles, including important roles in Ensemble Kafka and Cinema Domingo Orchestra with Steven Brown, in the big band Jazz of Oaxaca and in improvisation sessions with Germán Bringas, Roberto Morales and Antonio Russek.
He currently plays in the funk-Balkan jazz band Los Pream, composed of musicians from Tlahuitoltepec. As a soloist, he plays experimental music, exploring the limits of the trombone, using techniques with materials such as "jicaras" (a cup formed from a gourd) and tubes.
Paco Casanova
Catalyzed by the otherworldly influence of Zeuhl in bands such as Magma, Kōenji Hyakkei, and Mats and Morgan Band, Paco Casanova’s musical inclinations have always tended towards the avant-garde. This is exemplified in his unhinged compositions for Zeuhl torch-bearing band, Corima; his improvisational collaborations with Saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi in Nakata; and within the layers of deranged electronic effects crafted for art-punk band Prettiest Eyes.
This program is supported, in part, by grants from the Olympic Park Neighborhood Council, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, and as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan.
