MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS PRESS

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
The groundbreaking music duo, Christopher Garcia and Tasha Smith Godinez continue to create and cultivate a unique body of work, with a new standard of artistry,  virtuosity, and expression, with instruments from two very different worlds, pedal harp, lever harp, and violin sharing the stage with the breath and percussion instruments of indigenous Mexico/Mesoamerica,  and India, and ringing metals
Their premiere at the Alcázar del Castillo de Chapultepec in Mexico City 
in January of 2016 continues to garner popular and critical acclaim and win over  audiences as they continue to be invited to perform in concert halls,
performing art centers, universities and the world stage. 
The repertoire is comprised of original compositions for the duo by performer/composer Garcia, utilizing vernaculars from several different musical cultures he has learned,  performed and cultivated since 1979 along with re-workings of traditional music of Mexico  and India in combination with the dazzling, restlessly unabashed virtuosity of Godinez.
With performances in 29 countries on 5 continents combined,
 the duo continues to grow, and astound by leaps and bounds.
ENCLAVE.LA

​BAJA CA, MX
"Godinez and Garcia are both masters of their instruments and it is emotionally moving and exciting to see and hear their individual virtuosity on stage. Combined, they create a deeply satisfying concert experience that one wouldn’t expect with such an unusual pairing of instruments. They’ve managed not only to make harp and mesoamerican percussion work together but to provide a new type of concert experience that you don’t want to miss."
COMPOSER JOSEPH JULIAN GONZALEZ

SAN FRANCISCO,  CA USA
"When I met Christopher García a couple of years ago, as he rehearsed and played one of his pieces for ancestral Mexican percussion instruments ….I rediscovered something I had somehow lost track of throughout the years:
a musician rooted in the rituals of magical performance.
Beyond the external aspects of power, virtuosity or any other relative term of comparison,  there was something unique coming across, akin to a religious experience, through his beats and rhythms. 
I think Chris is definitely on the path of connecting the objects he strikes or shakes with the deeper 
currents of the soul. 
That's what I felt when he played; he's not only resuscitating old instruments, he's on a different search."
PAUL DESENNE, COMPOSER
www.pauldesenne.com/

MEXICO CITY, MX
"The interaction between the members of the Garcia Godinez Duo, comprised by harpist Tasha Smith-Godinez and renaissance man and multi-percussionist Chris Garcia, is full of flare, poise and bravura; 
it defies the listener at every moment as the duo provides dynamic and bold concoctions, instead of the expected polite and amicable conversations.
As an ensemble, this duo offers infinite possibilities as its members are exuberant and facile even in the most treacherous of passages.
I cannot wait to compose music for them" 
JOSE GURRIA - GURISONIC ORCHESTRA composer

SAN DIEGO CA USA
"The performance of the duo was captivating in its sonic variety,the combination is so unique. When one thinks  of the harp in a duo setting you usually see a flute, but, here you see/hear an arresting family of percussion instruments. 
The audience was both amazed and delighted with the variety of sounds that they heard. Bravo to the virtuosity ofTasha Smith Godinez and the sensitive percussion playing of maestro Christopher Garcia. ​
It was a great evening. Come back soon. Keep on keeping on."
BERTRAM TURETZKY
Maestro of the contra bass

PASADENA CA USA
"We were fortunate to have the Garcia Godinez Duo perform at Westerbeck Recital Hall at Pasadena City College Center for the Arts.  This duo features the pedal harp performed
by Tasha Smith Godinez and Christopher Garcia playing a variety of indigenous percussion instruments from Mexico. Christopher'soriginal compositions featuring these unusual instruments  were performed
This combining of Western pedal harp with indigenous Mexican instruments is a new and creative approach in the World Music/Classical scene."
WESTERBECK RECITAL HALL CENTER FOR THE ARTS 
PASADENA CA

BONN, GERMANY
"While he has devoted much of his life to learning indigenous music Garcia also revels in playing the new and unexpected…..Garcia's musical vocabulary not only spans centuries and cultures it's also spontaneous."
DEUTSCHE WELLE
GERMANYS INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER

LOS ANGELES, CA USA
"Garcia's compositions reflect a lifelong pursuit to put himself in the most creative musical situations possible with percussion and breath instruments he has learned along with performance practices, musical vernaculars, sounds and music which he has been immersed in since 1979 to the present.  Gleaned thru rehearsals, performances, compositions and research, and sitting across from learning and/or playing alongside great musicians from various musical cultures
His music resonates organically, and never seems contrived or slapped together as he draws from the rich color of sounds at his disposal, and where and how he chooses to place the silences within and around his compositions and performances.  His music has a rhythmic complexity that propels and co exists with memorable melodies that tie the pieces together - combining and extending traditions his is a unique voice in the tradition of   composer/performer/improviser with instruments not generally associated with the instruments of the western "classical world". "
LATINO LA

"The Garcia/Godinez recital was a captivating exploration of timbre.
The rich sound palette and textures were mesmerizing and the music
​was a perfect blend of composition and improvisation. Truly a unique experience."
SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE
​Todd Caschetta
School of Arts, Communication and Social Science

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PRESS
​CHRISTOPHER GARCIA

"Christopher Garcia knows where the deep water runs …. crouched over a floor arrayed with nonstandard instruments: water drums, hand drums, a couple of gongs, a tawitol, a couple of slate slabs that looked as if the Ten Commandments might've been etched on them….at one point Garcia removed the gourd resonator from a water drum, scooped water into it and poured it back into the base -- water into water……The tacit acknowledgment of eternal cycles marked one more reason why we sat so quietly, hearing and feeling things words can't express.”
METAL JAZZ

​"Christopher Garcia, an artist known equally for his accomplishments as both adept player of North and South Indian instruments such as tabla and driving American drum set player) with the likes of the Frank Zappa alumni band, The Grand Mothers of Invention and the Bobby Bradford Mo’tet), the group reflects Garcia’s ongoing interest in honoring, exploring, and blending different musical cultures and their unique instruments. With Garcia always successful in his role as multicultural musical ambassador as well as sensitive and tasteful manifestor of thoroughly enjoyable musical experiences."
​OPEN GATE THEATER

"Percussionist Chris Garcia nearly stole the show, beating on the cajon with a bare ankle, slapping cymbals with his hands, sending chipped bits of his mallets flying into the air, and even using his body as a percussion instrument."
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE

"While he has devoted much of his life to learning indigenous music Garcia also revels in playing the new and unexpected…..Garcia's musical vocabulary not only spans centuries and cultures it's also spontaneous."
DEUTSCHE WELLE
​
"He's amazing to see, talk about having a split personality ......his  fingers are flying, and he has all of the syllables available and he's holding a stick with his right hand, a shaker with his toes, and hitting bells and cymbals and all  sorts of things all at the same time."
KPFK's GLOBAL VILLAGE

​​"Christopher Garcia is one of those musicians who always seems to be on stage when amazing  things are happening. In addition to teaching all over  the world, he's played with a jaw-dropping who's-who of musical luminaries………Although he's a phenomenal drummer, he may be best known as a master of Vedic percussion techniques and, specifically, the tabla."
LONG BEACH POST 

"Chris Garcia is a most uncommon percussionist. He’s an ace trap drum player;  known for precise execution of difficult time signatures at blazing tempos; and he’s a hand percussionist with a deep background in Indian and Latin American music. No mere timekeeper, he always seems to elevate whatever musical situation he finds himself in."
PASADENA WEEKLY  

"I know of Christopher Garcia's extensive drum set and percussion work with various configurations (see links below) …. not quite sure how Garcia manages to keep all those plates spinning and consistently performing and composing such different music at such a high level  -  but he does"
LATINO LA
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PRESS
​TASHA SMITH GODINEZ 

"The copious notes pouring from the harp felt like raindrops falling on the leaves of a deep forest. Full of motion, yet always restful and serene, this piece evokes a distinctly exotic sensibility. The several key changes were very effective and provided a sense of renewal to the listener’s ear as the piece progressed. Ms. Godínez might have been expected to be quickly exhausted by the complexity and quantity of notes, but her hands were a model of economy in movement. The playing was impressively expressive and the acoustics of the space did not detract from the delicate texture of this piece. In the Village of Hope coasted to an elegant conclusion, providing another transcendent experience of the evening."
SEQUENZA 21

"Godinez followed with Andres Martin's "Postales del Alma," a composition for solo harp that found beauty in the progression of grief. Harmonically complex and melodically romantic, it hurt and soothed in the same breath, as Godinez augmented her instrument's wide tonal palette with heart-tugging effects such as a ribbon drawn across a string or an overtone conjured with quick hand muting. It was like a grand old Hollywood drama without the corn."
​METALJAZZ
​
"There is an exotic and idealistic feeling to In the Village of Hope that is beautifully  drawn out by the playing of Ms. Godinez, who negotiates the 22 minute shower of notes with assurance and perfect command of her instrument."
SEQUENZ21.COM

"This wonderfully restless, virtuosic harp solo, performed by Tasha Smith Godínez, is unlike anything else in the solo harp repertoire. The composer writes: This is a piece of unabashed virtuosity. Its complex temporal structure and intricate counterpoint vie for the listener s attention ... With a sound reminiscent of wind chimes ... individual notes diverging and merging to form a delicate fabric of sound."
AMAZON.COM

"Tasha Smith Godinez performs the work with distinction. There are dual contrapuntal parts that continue throughout, in diatonic and sometimes pentatonic modes. The rhythmic, nature-inspired complexity of the two parts working together may call for two separate harp tracks but the harp part is played with two hands in real time. That is difficult and some feat!
The two-part complexities are drawn towards cascading, infinitely variable rhythmic co-incidences that work together like the patter of rain on two different roofs. There is no overt synchronization; the diatonic-pentatonic patterns of notes play against each other in an infinitely variable way, modulating to a new key center now and again, but consistently irregular in ways the listener follows with a continual search for geometric ratios but finding them too complex to assimilate into a simple gestalt. And that in great part is where lies the charm and fascination for the listener, if not also for the sheer sensuality of the asymmetric pitch co-incidences.
The brevity of the work leaves you with just enough to convey an acoustic impression and a mood of tranquility and hopefulness. The sound of the harp has those sorts of connotations, at least for me, and the music does much to reinforce and underscore a peaceful yet dynamic experience."
CLASSISCALMODERMUSIC.COM