This enigmatic multi-instrumentalist draws from the diverse culture and history of his Mexican homeland, as well as his early experiences playing in progressive-rock bands south of the border. Reyes combines flute, pre-Columbian instruments, and percussion with synthesizers and voice to cast a spell of ritualistic intensity. Like shadows from Mexico's sultry and savage past, his music has a dark quality to it that sometimes scares off the unprepared, but adventurous listeners will find plenty to admire in his evocation of jungles, jaguars, and Aztec rites. Though his albums are often difficult to find, most of his imported releases are well worth the extra effort and expense involved.
Reyes died Saturday, February 7, 2009, of a heart attack at his recording studio in Mexico City, he was 57.

Reyes continues his homage to his native Mexican American roots and his Shamanic practices. The ritualistic music on this CD is performed on acoustic ethnic instruments only. There are no electronic enhancements beyond amplification. This highly inspirational soundworld is steeped on the traditions of Reyes' Mexican heritage. The rituals predate time itself; they honor the spirits that begat life and time. Deep listeners will journey back to an era when time did not exist and did not matter. They will question and then validate their own existence. Reyes uses the primitive instruments to create an aura of realism and authenticity.

It is easy to grasp the concept that Suspended Memories is one of the greatest e-music trios ever. Each member - Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes, and Suso Saiz - had a brilliant solo career before forging ahead as a trio. Earth Island, the group's second CD, explores the concept of this planet as an island in the sea called the galaxy. The composition titles make references to the dawn of man and hide isolation and desolation. The music is deep, inspirational, and distant. Roach, Reyes, and Saiz bring their own spiritualities to the table along with their own sound worlds. When they emerge, they emerge as one. This disc is an amalgamation of three distinct entities that intertwine and interact seamlessly. They do not just bring out the best in each other; they bring the totality of each other. The dark atmospheres are full of ethnic spirituality and cultural richness. There are no holes. This is a great CD from a trio of great artists.

Deep Forest is the first studio album by the musical group Deep Forest, consisting of French duo Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. The album mixes New Age electronics with UNESCO field recordings of music from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Solomon Islands, Burundi, Tibesti, and the Sahel. Deep Forest was nominated for the Grammy Award as Best World Music Album in 1994. For Sanchez and Mouquet, the most important purpose of the album was to express their own fascination with the Efe people, and open the world's ears to the exquisite sound of a quickly vanishing culture. As Mouquet noted, "It's not very often you can hear a Pygmy singing on the radio."

Once you enter the surreal, shaman-spirit filled world of Jorge Reyes, there's no return to the mundane and ordinary so called "new age music". Of course, Jorge would be deeply insulted if you called his creations new age. It's ethnic ambiance with a mixture of ponderous and sometimes sinister sounding electronic manipulations. This album is a fine gem that introduces those spiritually inquisitive to his music…in a sense, it is more or less a complilation of his other numerous works.

This is techno-tribal music to raise the dead, rip the hearts out of your sacrifices, or dance to under the full moon. This album also features the innovative sounds of Spanish electric guitarist Suso Saiz. Some booming Peter Gabriel-style beats can be found among mysterious atmospheres and virtuosic percussion.

The music rises up from the darkness and howls at the moon. An ancient voice chants in serpentine ecstacy, only to subside and hover next to silence. In those moments when the sound dissolves beyond recognition, the subconscious leaks through, whispering of faded visions painted on stone, of memories suspended by the passage of time, of gods long forgotten. This is the world where Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes and Suso Saiz create their music. There are no scores, no plans, in the initial stages of composition. Like jazz artists who extemporize freely through a shared musical language, the members of Suspended Memories connect on an intuitive level of pure sound. But it isn't jazz they're playing. Roach, Reyes, and Saiz practice a form of collective improvisation from another time, another place, maybe one that never really existed before, except in the shrouded landscapes of a shaman's dream.

Pretty nice tribal ambient. Not busy to the point of calling too much attention but not spacey enough to be boring. And the best thing: Not as cheesy as other tribal stuff.
This enigmatic multi-instrumentalist draws from the diverse culture and history of his Mexican homeland, as well as his early experiences playing in progressive-rock bands south of the border. Reyes combines flute, pre-Columbian instruments, and percussion with synthesizers and voice to cast a spell of ritualistic intensity. Like shadows from Mexico's sultry and savage past, his music has a dark quality to it that sometimes scares off the unprepared, but adventurous listeners will find plenty to admire in his evocation of jungles, jaguars, and Aztec rites.

Now entering a half-decade, Emotional Rescue presents an album that took almost as long to release as the label has existed. Jorge Reyes’ collaborative album with Antonio Zepeda is a masterpiece and therefore, worthy of the time and effort to share.
From cult artist to becoming an essential musical discovery, Jorge Reyes is an example that no one discovered or owns the music beyond the writer and creator.
Growing up in Mexico’s 2nd City, he spent much of his life dedicated to travelling and learning music traditions and instruments. While at University to study Flute, he was involved in several influential bands of the era before going on to travel the world to further his learning, before returning to found the seminal Chac Mool group…

Comala is one of Jorge Reyes' most important CDs. It is, as usual, deep shamanic Mexican Native American music. He augments his ethnic acoustics with synthesizers, processors, and other electronic accoutrements. Those modern implements enhance the spirituality and deepen it.

The debut solo album by Mexican ambient pioneer Jorge Reyes, Ek-Tunkul is a powerful statement of purpose from an artist whose sound was wholly his own. After leaving Mexican prog-rock band Chac Mool, Reyes became increasingly fascinated with native Mexican instruments and pre-Colombian music traditions, ultimately combining these sounds with modern instruments (guitar, synthesizer) and flute, mandolin, kalimba, and voice to pay homage to his ancestry and heritage. His first album is a sort of quiet “deep listening” prog-rock that hints at the later tribal, folk, ambient zones Reyes would explore with fellow experimentalists Antonio Zepeda and Suso Sáiz.

Vine ~ Bark & Spore captures a pure, organic sound that is rich with a potent magical atmosphere. The remote and mysterious locations deep in Mexico's historic landscape, as well as the hallucinogenic terrain of the Sonoran desert in Southern Arizona, provide the ground where this music takes place. The musical elixir was created from a surreal blending of acoustic and electronic instruments, along with voice and location recordings. With strong shamanic undercurrents, it creates an opening to step through time into the mythic worlds of the in-between. Vine ~ Bark & Spore offers music as medicine for the soul. The music of Roach and Reyes acts as a transmitter of the attitudes that ancient cultures had towards music and the spiritual aspects of life, while merging with the currents of today.

On the border between electronic spacemusic and organic indigenous music, this release is an exhilarating and ecstatic exploration of the subjective land of Aktehi. The primary ingredients in the hallucinogenic soundscapes are Seelig’s Bansuri flute and harmonic chanting. Rosenthal’s subtle electronics, processing and production creates space for the mind-expanding travel akin to an altered state of consciousness.

Recorded live and mixed by none other than Brian Eno, 'The Surgeon…' is one of Fourth World inaugurator Hassell's most breathtaking full-lengths, capturing the physicality of his performance and matching his lopsided trumpet work with hypnotic synths and ghostly, muted percussion. If you've not jumped into his catalog before, this is the perfect starting point!