Glen Velez, a Texan of Mexican origin, is among the most excellent living percussionists. His device is the body drum, the roots of which could be tracked back as soon as historic Mesopotamia. Velez not merely plays the body drum, he examined its rich background and manifold uses being a ceremonial device in historic rituals, and therefore also became a musicologist within this field. He not merely presents his knowledge in a multitude of shows and collaborations with additional performers — he also created his personal teaching way for learning to perform the framework drum, creates instructional video clips on this technique, teaches workshops across the world, and publishes books and content articles about them. He actually designed his personal framework drum series for REMO, a drum producer. Because of this considerable function, he’s to be looked at the world’s leading professional on this device and one of the very most innovative fusion music artists, easily crossing edges between rock and roll, jazz, globe, traditional, and postmodern music. Furthermore, he should be acknowledged with having were able to merge different framework drum playing methods into a amalgamated approach which essentially denotes his personal unique design. At age seven Glen Velez have been subjected to the miracles from the percussion globe by his uncle, a drummer. Therefore the youngster experienced discovered his enthusiasm quite early. His teenage years he spent mainly hearing bebop recordings and checking out different percussion devices for playing jazz. Nevertheless, in 1967, at age 18, he shifted his curiosity from jazz percussion to traditional percussion and was drawn to the social melting container of NY and enrolled in the Manhattan College of Music to review percussion with Fred Hinger. Hinger launched him to the thought of circular movement in music instead of conventional European linear progression. Therefore, Glen Velez also became familiar with the music of both great 20th hundred years composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. To be able to absorb all of the brand-new things he previously learned all about music at his 1st stay in NY he made a decision to go back to Dallas initially of 1969 also to practice frantically what he previously learned within the East Coastline. For the time being, he also became a member of the military where he performed inside a music group and continuing to refine his percussion abilities. In 1973, he was back NY and started saving with minimalist Steve Reich, carrying out in his outfit. This fruitful collaboration lasted fifteen years. In the very beginning of the ’80s, nevertheless, Velez became greatly interested in hands drumming, shifted his concentrate on this specialised field of percussion and found out the framework drum as his enthusiasm. This time around period also marks his breakaway from traditional percussion; based on his own phrases, he skipped the improvisational aspect in this field. In 1983, he founded connection with Paul Winter season and joined up with his Paul Winter season Consort, shaped in 1967 and something from the first exponents of globe music. Aside from the function in this group, Glen Velez began to launch single recordings which all feature dazzingly polyrhythmic percussion within the framework drum and a multitude of other percussion equipment in addition to Velez’ quality overtone performing. His single debut Handance, documented with drummer Layne Redmond, premiered in 1984. “Handance” may be the name Velez provided to his body drum playing teaching technique. This method relation tone of voice and body actions being a unity using the real body drum playing; it really is demonstrated within the instructional video The Glen Velez Handance Technique which he designed for teaching reasons. In 1984, Velez agreed upon using the renowned German fusion label CMP Information which he trapped with for another decade. He continuing his cooperation with Layne Redmond on his second single discharge, Internal Combustion, from 1985. For Seven Heaven (1987), Velez added the atmospheric Bansuri flute textures of Steve Gorn. John Cage recognized Glen Velez’ mastery in 1989 by composing the piece “Composed Improvisation for One-sided Drum with or without Jangles” specifically for him. Within the same calendar year, Velez released the stunning Assyrian Rose and extended the shades of his audio worlds by John Clark on French horn and Howard Levy on piano and harmonica. Velez began the ’90s with Ramana (1990) and Doctrine of Signatures (1991), the last mentioned documented without Layne Redmond’s support, but Gorn had taken part once again. In 1993, Velez was back again with another documenting, Border State governments, which motto may be “complicated and religious music with basic tools.” Shortly later on he released Skillet Eros and ceased documenting for CMP Information. 1996 was the entire year of the cooperation with Spanish saxophone and clarinet participant Javier Paxariño on his task Temur? in addition to Velez’ own launch Rhythmcolor Exotica which features his recently formed Handance Outfit. 1998 saw the finish of Glen Velez’ regular membership within the Paul Winter season Consort. Since that time, Velez, who based on his own phrases never listens for an recording he has produced, but progresses to another project, offers been working specifically like a soloist, but keeps on to collaborate with a number of music artists in different styles. These included performers like vocalist/songwriter Suzanne Vega, fusion guitarist Pat Metheny, traditional clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, Indian tabla participant Zakir Hussain, and Swedish jazz bassist Jonas Hellborg. Tempo from the Chakras, subtitled “Drumming for your body’s Energy Centers” and released exactly the same calendar year, was the consequence of Velez’ research of Indian chakras, things of physical and psychic connections in Hinduism and Buddhism, and their attempted change to music. In 1999 Glen Velez was voted Greatest World Defeat Percussionist by DRUM! newspaper. One year afterwards, he released Inhaling and exhaling Rhythms. Like its forerunner, the record is constantly on the explore music being a religious and healing drive, an understanding that your “shaman using a briefcase” (Paul Wintertime) has obtained after a long time of learning percussion music as a historical heritage along with a moderate for self-exploration.