GURRISONIC ORCHESTRA :: Avant-Garde New Music, Experimental Large-Band, Modern Creative Avant-Prog, Experimental Chamber Orchestra, Pan American-Forward-Thinking Monster Band Music, Chamber Orchestra of Vision…

---

GURRISONIC ORCHESTRA, is a 22-piece chamber orchestra, which brings together some of the most creative voices and improvisers in Los Angeles. Gurrisonic Orchestra performs genre-bending original music, pushing the boundaries of instrumentation and style with a mix of spoken word, and singer–songwriter work, framed by through-composed orchestral landscapes with tinges of avant-garde, jazz, and classical contemporary music.

 “The music sounds fresh. What the orchestra lacks in mass, it makes up in agility and precision; Gurria’s flexible interpretation steers [Ornette Coleman’s] “Skies of America” further along the path toward immortality.“ MetalJazz.com

WRITTEN BY JAZZ TIMES ASSOCIATE EDITOR JEFF TAMARKIN
There are many ways one can listen to the self-titled debut recording from José Gurría’s Gurrisonic Orchestra, but casually is not one of them. This is music that demands your undivided attention; its generous spirit of sound envelops you, seduces you and electrifies you. It bathes you in vivid, dynamic splashes of color and texture and traverses many dispositions and emotions, from raucous, cacophonic eruptions to calming caresses. It’s not merely involving, but virtually exhausting in its embracement of the listener’s senses. This is not music to be played once or twice and filed away, as each new exposure to it reveals greater, hitherto concealed depths and layers. Surrender to it; you won’t regret it for a moment.

Everything about Gurrisonic Orchestra exudes majesty. Even at its most minimal, José Gurría’s compositions and the musicians’ immaculate execution of the countless twists and leaps, lulls and bursts project a certain indefinable eminence. Of course, a 22-piece orchestra will naturally tend to use up more airspace than a smaller ensemble but, as Gurría—who serves not only as composer but also arranger, orchestrator, director of the orchestra and, of course, powerhouse drummer—puts it, it’s an “organic” and “otherworldly” work, deliberately designed to showcase each member’s artistry to the fullest. “The listener will hear the entire ensemble’s facility with improvisation and experimentalism while simultaneously navigating every detail of the score that was written specifically for each player,” Gurría says. “I enjoy pushing the players to a point where they didn’t know they could go, and this creates excitement among them as well. There’s a challenge going on: the symbiotic power of the interpreter to the composer; it transcends style so that each and every listener can feel the intimacy and relate to this very personal music.”

From the frenzied volley that introduces the intriguingly titled “Constant Deprivation of Monetary Funds (The Beast),” the opening track, it’s apparent that Gurrisonic Orchestra is music to be experienced and absorbed wholly, not just heard. “It’s about being epic and passionate,” Gurría says of the track. Throughout the often frantic piece, brass and woodwinds, piano, bass and strings bob and weave, toying with one another, skittering and cajoling, locking into and falling far out of sync—punk-rock meets Stockhausen. It contrasts vividly with “Three Kids Music,” the lullaby that follows, “to be sung with love, compassion, empathy and all the goodness every kid in the world deserves,” as Gurría says. Then comes the appropriately titled “In Your Face,” with its stacked non-stop triplet figures within every section of the orchestra, its intensive lead playing in the string section, and its mid-tempo half-time shuffles—a wealth of flavors coming right at you.

“Ishuakara” is a self-contained world unto itself, alternately swinging and turbulent, garrulous and utterly kinetic. “It’s very sinuous, with time signatures changing constantly and difficult melodic jumps,” says Gurría. “And yet I have always heard it as a pop song—a pop song with a fanfare, that is.” That tour de force is followed by “The Finger,” which Gurría describes as “an oasis of solitude and compassion for my soul.” The text comes from José’s brother, Angel Gurría. “I asked him to do something that portrayed injustice and people taking advantage of other people,” says José. “I underscored his text with a more sublime vibe than an obviously angry one, especially as the subtext is the sadness of people looking at the glass ‘half empty’ most of the time.”

Keeping it familial, “Aquí,” featuring the orchestra’s woodwinds, is a “very pointillistic and energetic piece written for my son Camilo,” says Gurria, while “Oso” is written for his other son, Nicolás. “It was so fun to perform,” says José of that track. “Every time I listen to it, it gives me the giggles.” And wrapping up the program is “Caballo Viejo,” cinematic in scope and rich in sonic surprises. It features vocalist Dorian Wood, about whom Gurría says, “I am almost in disbelief of what a special performer he is; his frantic energy is tangible in performance and recording.”

Of course, pulling all of this together was no simple task. It fell to “Gurri,” as his friends call him, to summon up all of the knowledge and insight gained over his 25-year career and focus all of the various components of the music. Collaborating with conductor Marc Lowenstein, engineer extraordinaire Greg Curtis and co-producer Valeria Palomino, Gurría relied first and foremost on the trust he has in his team of virtuosic players. “I am not afraid to say that these might be 22 of the finest musicians on the planet, skilled in session work, orchestra and improvisational/experimental music,” he says. “Their adaptive skills are so outstanding that it allowed me to happily go back to my drumming duties during the recording process.” Which, it should be pointed out, amazingly took place within the course of a single day!

“This is exciting music for the heart and the mind,” says Gurría in summation, “brilliant musicians playing out of their comfort zone. It’s blissful music that has been life-altering to write and, I hope from the most humble of places, also life-altering to listen to.”

Exciting, blissful, brilliant, life-altering: That’s a lot of adjectives to throw around, but they all ring true. And as you absorb this music, many more will come to mind; in fact, an entire range of emotions and sensations may just wash over you. And at some point, whether at the very beginning or deep into the experience, you realize that, for all of its complexity, for all of its many nuances, there is also a surprising, welcoming accessibility to the sounds produced by Gurrisonic Orchestra. These musicians, as they go through their paces, exude an enormous amount of warmth, inviting you without hesitation to join them on their thrilling ride. You’ll want to accept that invitation—again and again.

Jeff Tamarkin
Jeff Tamarkin is the Associate Editor of JazzTimes Magazine

 

ON WORDS, IMAGES, IDEAS AND GURRISONIC’S GOING-ONS
This a preview of the art that will be included on our debut album. The picture is from the amazing and brilliant Ngene Mwaura and the digital bending is done by the other-wordly Fabian Avila and Cristian Bañuelos. It is so inspring to witness how every artist involved in the album reacts to my music, humbling. The album will be out on May 1st, 2015 for physical copies and probably a month before for digital downloads worldwide stay tuned.

Last December we had an absolute brilliant and memorable couple of concerts. It was the premier of my Music For Two Countries Suite, a one-hour, six movement piece that comments on the infamous, and mostly misunderstood, relationship between The United States and México for the past one hundred years or so. this might be the core of the material of Gurrisonic’s 2nd album, BUT,……..for the moment lets try to concentrate and finish the debut album, ha!!!!

 BY GURRISONIC ORCHESTRA DEBUT ALBUM @ CD BABY!

We are making an amazing debut album and we cannot wait to share it with the world. Thanks to the more than two hundred backers and supporters from our indie-gogo crowd-funding campaign for believing in our project and efforts.

POSTERS
People always tell me how much they enjoy the posters we do for our shows. These are some of my favorites. Props to Roman Jaster, Gurrsionic’s own April Guthrie, and Jose Cineasta for making beautiful imagery for our presentations.