Biography

Alejandro Otaola

Composer-guitar and piano.

Known mainly for being a part of the bands 'Santa Sabina' (first Mexican band to have their Mtv Unplugged show released as a CD and only one to have ever opened a 'King Crimson' show in CdMx), 'La Barranca' (played in France, New York, California and all around Mexico), 'San Pascualito Rey' (played in Colombia, New York, California, all over Mexico) and 'Cuca' (Argentina, US, Mexico). With these bands he has released 25 albums and three Latin Grammy nominations. Has also written music for Theatre ('Sensuality' by Alejandro Springall and 'Atari Generation' by Juan Ríos) and Television.

As a solo artist he has released:

-'Fractales/Fractals' (2007). Multimedia project where a collage of rock, electronica, ambient and jazz converge with more than 30 small musical cameos winged on the spot by Mexico City top performers. Visuals selected in video-art festivals in Mexico, Canada, Greece and a solo guitar looping performance in Casablanca, Morocco. -'El hombre de la cámara/Man with the movie camera' (2010). A 10-piece score for the Dziga Vertov classic and first live album recorded at National Cinematheque. This show was performed at both Film Festivals (Cinematheque, Guadalajara, San Luis Potosí, Oaxaca) and Music Festivals (Riviera Maya Jazz International, Festival Quimera). Because of this an invitation was made to perform at 'Metropolis Restoration' Latin American premiere (GIFF). Two years later played Teatro Esperanza Iris with live music for 'Berlin Symphony of a great City' and for 2013 was commissioned by Oaxaca Cine to perform music to a series of old historic pieces of film. -'iNFiNiTO' (2013) a duo album-turned-into-a-puzzle-within-an-app with Mexico's top jazz diva Iraida Noriega. 21 tracks (songs or improvs) are broken into 69 fragments that hover in and out of the users sight and are always arranged in a new way thus making it an album that's never the same one twice. Within a year of release the app had been downloaded by more than 15,000 users in Mexico, USA, Japan, France, Brasil, England, etc. -'Astrolab-iO' (2016). Duo with Javier Lara that performs immersive quadraphonic electronic improvs, released a binaural album and has performed at Top Mexico City museums (Tamayo, Palace of Medicine, Spain Cultural Centre). -'Krisälids' (2018). Guitar looping album recorded live during the 2001 premiere of Jordi Soler's 'La novia del soldado japonés/The wife of the japanese soldier' at Sor Juana's Convent Museum. -'Spirituales' (2018) EP with North American guitar player Todd Clouser. The duo also uploaded the 'Sonic Calendar' site (2020) where a grid of small gtr/vocal bits becomes a musical hub for the user to play with. -'Cruz, Iglesias & Otaola' (2020). Kaleidoscope of improvs recorded with Aaron Cruz (bass) & Patricio Iglesias (drums) at a Roberto Cantoral Music Center 2014 show plus several studio snippets. -'Fractales/Fractals II' (2021). Second part of his first solo release, this time the musical cameos were recorded during lockdown with tracks coming in from friends in Guadalajara, New York and Chile too.

Has been featured on releases and live shows by Zoe, Panteón Rococó, Regina Orozco, Enrique Neri, Cecilia Toussaint, Alonso Arreola, Fernando Rivera Calderón, Klezmerson y Eblén Macari, amongst others.

Music Festivals: -"Man with the movie camera" show at Festival Internacional de Jazz de la Riviera Maya (2011) -'iNFiNiTO app' show at Festival Internacional de Jazz de la Fundación Sebastián (2011) -'iNFiNiTO app' show at Festival Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo (León, Guanajuato 2010) -'Fractales' show at Vive Latino 2009 and 'iNFiNiTO' app show at Vive Latino 2014 -'Fractales' show at Festival de México en el Centro Histórico (20099 -Riviera Maya Underground Film Festival 2008 ('Fractales' show) and 2009 ("Man with the movie camera" show) -'Fractales' show at Feria de San Marcos (Aguascalientes, Mexico 2007)

Film Festivals: -Fest Int Art Video (Casablanca, Morocco 2008) -Live music for "Man with the movie camera" at Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara (2011) -Live music for "Metropolis" Restoration at Festival Internacional Expresión en Corto Guanajuato (2010 now known as GIFF)

Video Art Festivals: -Athens VideoArt Fest (2009) -All Art Now (Damascus, Syria 2009) -Alu-Cine (Montreal, Canada 2008)

Sponsors: Orange Amps Seymour Duncan Tanglewood Guitars Jimmy Wess Strings
- IMDb mini biography by: Alejandro Otaola