Jazz group to play campus

Mexico's Ethos Trio blends jazz, classical and pop

By Jackie Womack
The Collegian

Music lovers at Fresno State will be treated to a free show in the Concert Hall tonight by Ethos Trio, a jazz fusion group from Mexico.

The concert is part of a tour being underwritten by the Mexican government, according to Michael Caldwell, a Fresno State music professor and director of jazz ensembles.

“It is a group sponsored by the Mexican Consulate,” Caldwell said. “Sometimes, [music] groups do State Department tours. It’s something that’s been done by the U.S. for years. It’s something recently started by the Mexican government, which is very exciting.”

Tours such as this serve two purposes, according to Caldwell.

“It’s an opportunity to deliver culture from a country,” he said. “It promotes the cultural values of the country that [the artists] are coming from.”

Ethos Trio’s three members include pianist and composer Javier Reséndiz; drummer, composer and producer José Gurria and bass player Arturo Luna, according to a press release.

The group’s music draws from a wide range of influences, Caldwell said.

“They basically draw from jazz, classical, pop music and music indigenous of Mexican culture, and they blend it all together for a multisensory experience,” he said.

Caldwell said that students shouldn’t be put off by the jazz label but that they give the music a chance and come and listen to it, to see if they like it.

Caldwell said the group had recently played the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. A clip of the Ethos Trio performing at the center is available at the Kennedy Center Web site.

Caldwell said that the trio’s music mostly instrumental but that “one of the music group does some vocal.”

The group’s name refers to the common spirit or beliefs that inhabit a culture.

Through its music, the group is trying to show its beliefs

and spirit in a musical dialogue with the listener, according to the press release.

Ethos Trios performs in the Music Building Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m.

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