WWW.EDMARCASTANEDA.COM

"A jazz harpist of imposing talent. "

-THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Edmar is.. an enormous talent, he has the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple."

- PAQUITO D'RIVERA .

"Edmar Castaneda’s short opening set took Diana Krall’s mellow crowd by surprise. Castaneda plays the arpa llanera, or Colombian harp, a diatonic instrument from which he snatches twanging, sweet, twittering, chiming, dense sonorities like nothing else in contemporary music. Castaneda’s trio with drummer David C. Silliman and trombonist Marshall Gilkes included the “resident artists” at Umbria Jazz, performed nine times, and were among the revelations of the festival."
THOMAS CONRAD -JAZZ TIMES ( AUG 7, 2006)

"The most amazing and well received new sensation for Panamanian jazz fans was Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda. "
THE PANAMA NEWS ( JAN 21 , 2007)

"Rising star Castaneda has become a one-man musical wrecking crew, demolishing preconceptions about whether there’s even a place in jazz for the instrument."
Boston Herald (DEC 04 ,07
By Bob Young

"Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda, who made a more than convincing case for the harp as a jazz instrument. He was simply astonishing."

BLOOMBERG NEWS (August 3, 2007)
BY Jeremy Gerard

"the phenomenal Columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda, whose technically astounding approach to the instrument normally associated with classical music has been registering with scenesters over the past year. Covering independent, heavily grooving bass lines with his left hand while chording and also running counterpoint melodies and dazzling triplet figures with his right hand (a kind of Charlie Hunter or Joe Passian approach to the harp),...

BILL MILKOWSKI - JAZZ TIMES
( FEB 2, 2006 )

“As illustrated in a fascnatingly percussive performance by the harpist Edmar Castaneda”
-THE NEW YORK TIMES.

“ Producing cross-rhythms like a drummer , smashing chordal flourishes like a flamenco guitarist and collating bebop and Colombian music , he was almost a world unto him-self.”
-THE NEW YORK TIMES

“He nearly becomes a one man band, plucking bass lines almost invisibly while picking out melodies.”
-TIME OUT

"Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda and his unique, nearly inconceivable ensemble comprising of a trombonist who also doubled on cello and a percussionist delivered the "wow" factor at the festival and captivated the large gathering around the gazebo. Obviously, the harp and the cello have not been associated with jazz, however, in the hands of classically trained virtuosos who are also imbued with enormous creativity and passion, the instruments and their inimitable sound were seamlessly transmuted into the jazz idiom with incandescent flair. Among many resplendent musical propositions cultivated by this ensemble, Castaneda stretched the harp into a fascinating percussive instrument and the band created cascades of intoxicating South American rhythms. Most of the melodies were derived from South American folk songs and the various textures of the instrumentalities spawned musical hues and effects rarely realized. Assuredly, Castaneda and crew are deserving of wider appeal."

FREIHOFER'S JAZZ FESTIVAL
June 24, 2006
By Randy Treece

EDMAR CASTANEDA