Monday, June 29, 2009

Excursions with Esquivel!



The unique and individual music of Juan García Esquivel aka Esquivel! came to my attention during the Lounge-Exotica revival of the mid nineties. I read about him in SPIN and heard one of the reissue collections, but it wasn't overwhelmed. There was a lot going on in my life during those years, such as getting married and a career change so quirky old 360 Stereophonic quirkiness of a Mexican eccentric didn't catch my attention very much. It was kind of like listening to a latin version of Spike Jones.

But recently, I was looking for something to put on headphones and get lost to. I found that old pop standards shaken not stirred with the likes of glockenspiel, slide guitar, flamboyant horns and mixed choruses going "Vu Vu Vu' fit the bill as a pretty cool way to kick back. I think ultimately Esquivel! has more in common with the clever fifties jazz pop recordings of Pete Rugolo (which I have about three hours worth on my work hard drive and find refreshing counterpoint for purging e-mail.) than the whole Martin Denny/Les Baxter exotica lounge bag. Regardless, one has to admit that Esquivel! was one sonically clever dude. A lot of his tracks are just plain goofy lame, but at his best, this fellow really had the ability to turn a familiar tune inside out and back outside in again with a most unexpected arsenal of effects for mini space age (as in Sputnik, space monkeys, space needle, and Mercury capsule) journey.

One just can't talk about Esquivel! A sample needs to be ordered up here for the buffet. I've chosen Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine because it contains many of the quintessential Esquivel! touches. The keyboard part sounds so straight and earnest at first, but you know that doesn't last for long.



Esquivel_Begin_the_Beguine.mp3


posted by well-executed buffet at 10:21 PM
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