Interview by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, June 16, 2011
Remi Alvarez, a Mexican saxophonist and flutist, stopped in at Roberto’s Winds in mid June to see his old friend and owner Roberto Romeo. Just the week prior to his visit he played two gigs at the VISION FESTIVAL, here in NYC. After a short conversation, in which we discussed his musical approach of free style I decided to do a video interview with him. What follows is the summery of this interview in which I discovered a Mexico native who’s primary focus is not the typical Latin or English influences one might expect.
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About Remi Álvarez
He was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He studied the western flute at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música from 1975 to 1979 with Rubén Islas. While there he taught himself the saxophone. His first professional concert was with the group Cuarteto Mexicano de Jazz in 1984.
Later, he moved to New York City and continued his studies in composition and improvisation at the Creative Music Studio with Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Cherry. He studied for a bachelor of jazz at the Escuela Superior de Música from 1982 to 1987. In 1988, he traveled to Paris and became a student of Steve Lacy.
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Along with being an artist he has been teaching saxophone and jazz at the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM) as one of their acclaimed educators.
Since 2004 he has been touring and playing festivals in Europe, Cuba, Canada and in the US. In June 2006, he was invited to play at the Vision Festival – the most important free jazz festival in New York.
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These days he has been busy with his own band Remi Álvarez Trio, along with playing in other bands, such as Antimateria, FAS Trio, Cráneo de Jade ensembles. A continuing duo project with Gabriel Lauber, and performances with the likes of Sabir Mateen, Rodrigo Amado, Dennis, Stefan and many more keep him very busy. For a complete listing of who Senior Alverez has collaborated with please visit here.
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