Jazz Articles about Socrates Garcia

About Socrates Garcia

Album Review

Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra: Shadows of Tomorrow

Read "Shadows of Tomorrow" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 11, 2025

Do not let the word “Latin" in front of the Socrates Garcia Jazz Orchestra's name sway you. Shadows of Tomorrow is bright and spirited contemporary jazz albeit with a southerly twist. The salute to Latin America is for the most part rhythmic; everything else leans resolutely toward el norte, and the orchestra (which is actually based in Colorado, where Garcia teaches at the University of Northern Colorado) lends its considerable weight and savvy to every one of the leader's half-dozen ...

Album Review

Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra: Back Home

Read "Back Home" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 15, 2016

Back Home, the debut recording by composer / arranger / musicologist Socrates Garcia's Latin Jazz Orchestra, combines the best of two worlds: ardent Latin jazz that never forswears its roots, and emphatic American-designed big-band swing that provides a solid framework for Garcia's picturesque Latin / American excursions. Garcia, who was born in the Dominican Republic, is director of Music Technology at the University of Northern Colorado, and Back Home, it seems, represents more a state of mind than any physical ...