Performance Times

Venue Day Start
Zoetropolis Sun 1:30 PM

Tino Gonzales

Promoter’s note: Before you read his biography below, (And you really need too!), you should know I am a fan of Tino Gonzales. Not just his sublime music but I love him and his essence. There is a positive spirit to Tino that I have always enjoyed since I recorded him at Chameleon Club 30 years ago for a great live record. This is a first for us at Lancaster Roots and Blues. We couldn’t get Tino back for a concert but he is going to play live in Freiburg Germany and through the miracle of technology we will broadcast it live at Zoetropolis and you will see and hear Tino Gonzales through their wonderful sounding Clair audio system.  After the show, if there is time, Tino will be answering questions from the audience! I hope you can make this show.   Sincerely, Rich Ruoff- Director of Lancaster Roots and Blues.

To entice you to come to this show we are giving away free to the first 100 people  “No More Misery”- the song described at the end of the bio, along with 14 other of his original  songs from Tino’s various Cds recorded in Europe on a USB stick.” 

Biography:

Over 20 years ago, the elusive Tino Gonzales went missing. He was a working musician in the United States.  A Blues man.  Then he went to Paris where they treat American Bluesmen with respect. He toured Europe and then went quiet. Well, we found him in the dark woods of Bavaria. It turns out he has been producing music (His own and for others) and booking music festivals and writing soundtracks for films.  He works in Germany, Italy, Sweden, France and Turkey. And sometimes, when the muse strikes him, he’ll play live.  And man, can he play.

Tino is multi-lingual including English, Spanish, German, French, some Italian, Arabic and even Mandarin. But his main language is that of music. Specifically, rhythm. He breaths the rhythm of life and it comes through in his music.

Spanish, Gypsy, Arabic and African influences, which originally contributed to both, Latin and Black American music, have all found their way into his repertoire. You’ll feel Santana or George Benson in his sound but with an expanded flavor you’re really getting a World Music artist.

When Tino was young he cut his teeth in his hometown of Chicago. Then he migrated west and opened a live music joint in Portland, Oregon. Touring relentlessly through the country, Tino found himself in Lancaster PA, in the 90’s living in the heart of Amish Country.  Literally, on an Amish farm.  He played Chameleon Club often and even made a live record there. Then he was off to Europe.

Born in the Bluestown of Chicago in 1951, Tino Gonzales, grew up with the
soul sounds of Black music ­ Blues, R & B, Jazz, and Soul all have
contributed to his musical foundations. Having served his apprenticeship
with a wide range of blues and jazz greats he eventually set off on his solo
Blues career in 1985. But as a Mexican American with a streak of Arabic
heritage, the Latin blood flows equally in his veins. His music encompasses
all of these varied cultural influences resulting in a unique sound that can
not easily be labelled in terms of conventional categories ­ but if one had
to sum it up in one word it would have to be passion!
Gonzales’ incredible virtuoso style is so fluid one gets the impression he
pours his soul right into his guitar as he floats up and down its neck,
coaxing from it sounds and vibrations hitherto unknown ­ even to the most
ardent blues connoisseurs. He changes styles more often than many blues
musicians know how to change keys and any direction he chooses, whether
latin, jazz or soul, he plays with the same passionate fire and fluidity.

As the late and respected westcoast DJ Steve Pringle from KMHD radio in Portland, Oregon
once put it, “I have no frikken idea why this guy is not better known. Not
for lack of talent, sound, writing…it’s all good!” One of the reasons undoubtedly is Gonzales free-spirited and independent way of thinking, which has earned him the reputation of a maverick in the business. He resisted the temptation of signing with major labels on more than one occasion, because he refused to let himself be exploited, run down and spat out by the industry as he has seen happening to so many of his friends and peers. Instead, he decided to go his own way, often a rough and tumble road, but free at least. After years of touring the US and Canada Gonzales grew tired of the same old Club and Festival scene, packed his Hobo bag and decided to sail east.    Before leaving he recorded one last cd in the states  on “ Horseplay Records “ produced by legendary drummer Bernard Purdie, which featured the “Phenix Horns”( Earth Wind and Fire,) who he had toured with and the late Jazz icon Freddie Hubbard on trumpet.
Since his arrival on European shores over twenty years ago Gonzales has certainly
made some big waves over here.

Having finally found a label he could work with he decided to sign with Dixiefrog, a French Blues label with a human touch. So far he has recorded three albums for them, each one a masterpiece in its own right with the unique Tino Gonzales touch. Most of his recordings have received rave reviews in the
international press and reflects and shines on his new beginnings and process of transformation and artistic growth  that is even more apparent in
his album, “A World of Blues”.

Travelling throughout Europe, from
France, Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg and Germany, to Spain, Italy, Finland, Sweden and even
Turkey, Gonzales has become deeply influenced by the Old World roots of
the same soulful music he grew up on in the States. Spanish, Gypsy, Arabic
and African influences, which originally contributed to both, Latin and Black American music, have all found their way into his repertoire.

Again this is apparent on his album, “A The World Of Blues”, the 4th for Dixiefrog, pays tribute
to these Old World roots of the blues as he masterfully manages to weave
gypsy accordion, African kora and world percussion sounds into his unique
blend of Latin Jazz/Blues fusion.

The result was a phenomenal melange of
musical influences all of which speak the same language – passion. Passion
for music, passion for love, passion for life ­ and compassion for the blues
of the world.

Gonzales’ passion is not just show. He deeply cares about humanity and
planet earth. To him the essence of blues is not only about the sense of
desperation rooted in slavery or variations on the theme of personal misery, but instead conveys a message that applies to the human condition
everywhere, and throughout all of time. He sings the blues of the American
Indians, the Blues of drug addicts, and the blues of the world. One of the
songs on the this album, an exquisite slow blues tune ­it gives a message of
peace to the blues of the world, appealing to each and everyone of us not to add “No More Misery”.