Johnstown, CO
Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra
Dr. Socrates Garcia is a composer, arranger, producer, recording engineer, bandleader, guitarist, and educator originally from the Dominican Republic. He currently is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Music Technology at the prestigious Jazz Studies Program of the University of Northern Colorado.
As an arranger/producer and recording engineer his work is found on numerous albums and a myriad of side-projects. Garcia's recording and performing credits include the Grammy and Latin Grammy winning album Yo Por Ti by Olga Tañon; Milly Quezada’s Tesoros de mi Tierra (14 on Billboard’s Tropical Song charts); and national and international performances with the Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra, among others. He has presented clinics and workshops on music technology and/or jazz composition/arranging, nationally and internationally. Garcia and the Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra have also performed nationally and internationally, including concerts at several Jazz Education Network’s conferences, Vanderbilt University (with the Blair Big Band), Dominican Republic’s Restoration Jazz Festival, and at the top-100 Jazz Club Dazzle Jazz, among others.
The SGLJO performs Garcia's original music, a fusion of Afro-Caribbean genres and jazz. For the JEN Conference 2023 performance the orchestra will be comprised by: Wil Swindler, Drew Zaremba, Jeff Coffin, Jared Cathey, and Ryan Middagh, on saxes; Brad Goode, Clay Jenkins, Jeff Jarvis, Shawn Williams, and Derek Watson on Trumpets; Paul McKee, Gary Mayne, Zach Rich, John Mathews, on Trombones. The rhythm section: Dana Landry (piano), Erik Applegate (bass) and renowned Dominican musicians, Ivanna Cuesta (drums), Pablo Peña (percussion), Daniel Berro (percussion), and Liam Garcia (guitar). Ivanna is the winner of the worldwide female drummer’s contest “Hit it Like a Girl.” Liam was one of three finalists on the worldwide competition "Young Guitarist of the Year," in 2019.
Garcia's large jazz ensemble music has been performed by top university/college jazz orchestras including Manhattan School of Music’s Latin Jazz Orchestra, UNC Jazz Lab I, California State University Long Beach’s Concert Jazz Orchestra, the Big Band of the National Conservatory of Music of Santo Domingo, and Vanderbilt University’s Blair Big Band.
His latest album, Back Home (MAMA Records), performed by the SGLJO, is a symbiotic combination of Afro-Dominican and Afro-Caribbean genres within the aesthetic of contemporary orchestral jazz. An award winning album, it has received numerous accolades by critics and jazz fans alike, both nationally and internationally.
Friday, January 6, 2023
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM US EST