Géraldine Eguiluz is a multi-instrumentalist (voice, guitar, trumpet, percussions) improviser, composer, musicologist, as well as poet and painter. Born in Mexico in 1969, citizen of the world and multi-lingual, she grew up in Bogota, Lisbon and Paris. She discovered herself as a musician from adolescence and deepened her practice until today.
She emigrated to Québec in 2006 and became part of Montréal’s “musique actuelle” and improvised music scene, notably with Productions SuperMusique. Among her closest colleagues are Jean René, Stéphane Diamantakiou, Scott Thomson, Mili Hong, Julie Houle with which she signs her latest album Mexihcah Bones (2021) on the label Corne de Brume.
She publishes Cante Jondo (Small Scale Music 2021) a digital reissue of a cassette as well as a zine of paintings dating from 1993 on the poetry of Garcia Lorca. She also publishes In Praesentia (2020) based on her musicological research of soundscapes at CENIDIM and LANMO. Her discography includes Ontologies (Mikroclimat, 2017), Nigredo Lunes Noires (Small Scale Music, 2015), Paso Doble (Tours de Bras 2015), Rubedo’ ro (Malasartes, 2013), Temps de Lumière (2010), Tritonía (Ars Flventis Records 2000).
She leads her own musical ensembles in Mexico, Montréal and Morelia. She recently performed at Expresiones Contemporáneas Puebla (2021), Festival FFF Ecuador (2020), Festival de Jazz de Querétaro (2019), Festival de Jazz de Michoacan (2018). Her records and concerts have received support from FONCA, CAC and CALQ, and international reviews.
Géraldine Eguiluz’s work is in constant transformation, cultivating new connections between individuals, communities and institutions, while making her unique contribution to the world.
Experiences (2011-2021)
Over the past ten years, she has performed in all of the Montréal underground venues dedicated to improvisation, such as La Plante, la Brique, l’Envers, la Vitrola, la Passe, Café Résonance, Ritz, Mardi Spaghetti, Mercredis Music, making many impromptu musical encounters.
She played her compositions at Banff Center with La fayette String Quartet and the music of Hermeto Pascoal with Jovino Santos Neto; she also played her music in New York with the Firey Strings Company of Nioka Workman, under Frank Lacy’s direction; she played solo at Vision Festival: with Michaël Attias, Sean Conly, Satoshi Takeishi and Angélica Sànchez; with her trio at Something Else in Hamilton, at Silence in Guelph. She also played at Festival des Musiques de Création, l’ Off Festival de jazz de Montréal, Festival des Musiques Universelles, among others.
Music teacher in Quebec, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, she runs improvisation and sound creation workshops. She has worked in elementary and secondary schools, community and cultural centers, daycares and workshops, notably at l’Académie de Musique de Montréal, where since 2012, she has introduced dozens of children and adults to music.
(1995-2005)
With her group Tritonia, (Rodrigo Castelán and Armando Cruz) she performs in concert with flutist James Newton. Invited by trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, the group makes its first international appearance at the Berlin Jazz Festival Knitting Factory (NYC), Instants Chavirés (Paris), Festival de Jazz de la Havane (Cuba), Festival de Jazz de Rive de Gier (FR), Festival Cervantino (Guanajuato), Festival de Jazz de Puebla (Mx). Her compositions are performed at the Festival Mexico Now by the nonet The Kitchen House Blend.
She founded the Bacaanda Multimedia company with Minerva Hernàndez, performing numerous performances of the multidisciplinary show El Sueño, with original compositions, video and the participation of dozens of circus and jazz artists including Marc Aanderud, Agustin Bernal, Leika Mochan , Pablo Anguiano, Alejandro Pérez Sáez, Marco Rentería, to name a few.
At the same time, she is a musicologist at CENIDIM and creates a documentary collection on Mexican Jazz published at the CENART Arts Library (Mx).
Training (1981-1995)
In her early days, she studied guitar with Conceicao Santos and Manduka. She followed the Jazz course at the Superior School of Music in México with Francisco Téllez. In Paris she attended Alan Silva’s IACP and obtained two Masters in Music, one at Université de Paris VIII in 1998 and the other in 2008 at Université Laval, Québec.