He was born in 1918, in Tampico, Tamaulipas, and his family moved to Mexico City in 1928 where he became a self-taught musician from an early age. In interviews, Esquivel's family members have stated that the young boy started playing piano when he was around 6 years old, to the amazement of older musicians who would gather around him in disbelief and to his own delight exhibiting his musical gifts. They have also stated that Esquivel continued to eschew formal musical training as he grew older, preferring to learn from books and by listening to and playing music instead. Music Įsquivel played a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop known today as lounge music. Esquivel's musical style was highly idiosyncratic, and although elements sound like his contemporaries, many stylistic traits distinguished his music and made it instantly recognizable. These included exotic percussion, wordless vocals, virtuoso piano runs, and exaggerated dynamic shifts. He used many jazz-like elements however, other than his piano solos, there is no improvisation, and the works are meticulously arranged by Esquivel himself, who considered himself a perfectionist as a composer, performer, and recording artist. His orchestration employed novel instrumental combinations, such as Chinese bells, mariachi bands, whistling, and numerous percussion instruments, blended with orchestra, mixed chorus, and his own heavily ornamented piano style. Vocal groups were often utilized to sing only nonsense syllables, most famously "zu-zu" and "pow!" A survey of Esquivel's recordings reveals a fondness for glissando, sometimes on a half-valved trumpet, sometimes on a kettle drum, but most frequently on pitched percussion instruments and steel guitars.Įsquivel's use of stereo recording was notable, and he occasionally employed two bands recording simultaneously in separate studios, such as on his album Latin-Esque (1962). That album's song "Mucha Muchacha" makes unusual use of stereo separation, with the chorus and brass rapidly alternating in the left and right audio channels. Producer for big independent names like Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, Jay Nice, Ty Farris, SonnyJim, Cousin Feo, Smoovth, Josiah The Gift, Vega7 The Ronin & Mickey Diamond. He arranged many traditional Mexican songs like " Bésame Mucho", " La Bamba", " El Manisero" (Cuban/Mexican) and " La Bikina" covered Brazilian songs like " Aquarela do Brasil" (also known simply as "Brazil") by Ary Barroso, " Surfboard" and " Agua de Beber" by Tom Jobim, and composed spicy lounge-like novelties such as "Mini Skirt", "Yeyo", "Latin-Esque", "Mucha Muchacha" and "Whatchamacallit". Danish rapper and producer Mattus Overgrd Jensen - Rapper from the Danish legendary group Takt & Tone and a part of Helt Sikkert collective. He was commissioned to compose the music of a Mexican children's TV show Odisea Burbujas.
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