Harpist Carlos Guedes

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RECORDING ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION - As a youngster growing up in Caracas, the sophisticated capital city of oil-rich Venezuela, Carlos Guedes was exposed to many and varied musical influences, including North American and European Rock to Afro-Caribbean and Jazz. While still in his early teens, Carlos was exposed to the music of jazz artists like Keith Jarret, Chick Corea, Oscar Peterson, Jean Luc Ponty, Astor Piazzolla, etc. "I was amazed by the harmonies and decided that was the kind of music I wanted to play. Later, knowing the limitations of the Venezuelan harp as a diatonic instrument --tune to one key-- not to be able to modulate from one key to another or even trying to play a chromatic melody, it is definitely almost impossible to play jazz on this instrument. New techniques, innovative arranging concepts and I guess a lot of imagination is making me to become a composer and a performer of a different kind of music that somehow, in my opinion, sounds like jazz." Guedes says today. As a teenager, having mastered the diatonic Venezuelan harp, Carlos was determined to become a jazz harpist. This goal brought him to the USA where he first studied some classical harp, then later concentrated on some jazz studies at North Texas State University (now University of North Texas), the well known citadel of jazz academia. Carlos' eclectic concepts of arranging and performance were further refined by several trips to Europe. Citing such diverse influences as the late North American jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis, Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes and Brazilian multi-instrumentalist/composer Egberto Gismonti, Guedes has admirably succeeded in his lifelong ambition to become not only a harpist but a world class performer and stylistic innovator. Today, the Dallas, Texas-based musician is continuing his quest with the same passion with which he first tackled the harp at the age of 11. As passion is what shines through on his music. As with previous albums, TODA AMERICA, CHURUN MERU and CD Collections he has participated in, Carlos Guedes as a music producer spans a wide spectrum of influences, from the strains of folk music that enthralled his young ears to the complexities of modern improvisational music, a world of sound radiates from the nimble fingers of this exciting instrumentalist. With his group DESVIO, Carlos Guedes has appeared with a long list of well-known artists including Dave Brubeck, The Commodores, Ray Charles, Tito Puente, Dixie Chicks, Earl Klugh, Najee, Dave Valentín, David Benoit, Paquito D’Rivera, Larry Carlton, Nestor Torres, Strunz & Farah, Tania María, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mongo Santamaría, Celia Cruz, Ron Dante (lead singer of “The Archies”), etc. Carlos has also performed on prestigious stages like: El Poliedro de Caracas (Arena), Teresa Carreño Arts Complex in Caracas-Venezuela, Rhein Kultur Festival in Bonn-Germany; Teatro de Bellas Artes, Luis Muñoz Marín Amphitheater, Teatro Luis Vigoreaux, Heineken Jazz Festival in San Juan-Puerto Rico; Shea's Theater in Buffalo-New York; Pantages Theater for The Sixth World Harp Congress Last Evening Concert in Tacoma-Washington; Jazz Trax Festival at Avalon Casino in Catalina Island-California; Convention Center in El Paso-Texas; Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth-Texas; Majestic Theater, McFarlin Auditorium in Dallas-Texas, etc. Impressive as a Composer, direct and engaging as a human being, and truly awe-inspiring as a performer, Carlos Guedes has achieved what every musician strives for but precious few attain; the organic melding of man and music. Carlos Guedes and his music are one. By Mark Holston, Music Editor, AMERICAS Magazine & JAZZIZ Magazine.