Juan García Esquivel (January 20, 1918 – January 3, 2002) was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophisticated style of largely instrumental music that combines elements of lounge music and jazz with Latin flavors. Esquivel is sometimes called "The King of Space Age Pop" and "The Busby Berkeley of Cocktail Music." Esquivel is considered one of the foremost exponents of a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop that became known (in retrospect) as "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music".
He was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, and his family moved to Mexico City in 1928 where he studied at the UNAM.
Esquivel is considered the king of 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, including 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 tightly, meticulously arranged by Esquivel himself, who considered himself a perfectionist as a composer, performer, and recording artist.
His orchestration tended toward the very lush, employing 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. The chorus was often called upon to sing only nonsense syllables, most famously "zu-zu" and "pow!" A survey of Esquivel's recordings reveals a fondness for glissandi, sometimes on a half-valved trumpet, sometimes on a kettle drum, but most frequently on pitched percussion instruments and slide guitars.
Esquivel's use of stereo recording was legendary, occasionally featuring two bands recording simultaneously in separate studios, such as on his album Latin-Esque (1962). The song "Mucha Muchacha" makes particularly mind-bending use of the separation, with the chorus and brass rapidly alternating stereo sides.
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". He was commissioned to compose the music of a Mexican children's TV show Odisea Burbujas.
His concerts also featured elaborate light shows years before effects like that became popular in live music. He performed in Las Vegas on several occasions, often as the opening act for Frank Sinatra.
Several compilations of Esquivel's music were issued starting with Space Age Bachelor Pad Music in 1994. The apparent success of these releases led to reissues of several of Esquivel's albums. The first reissues were compiled by Irwin Chusid, who also produced the first CD reissues of Raymond Scott and The Langley Schools Music Project.
The last recording on which Esquivel worked was Merry Christmas from the Space-Age Bachelor Pad in 1996, for which he did a voiceover on a track by the band Combustible Edison. This album also included several obscure tracks from his past sessions. The last CD released during his lifetime, See It In Sound, was actually recorded in 1960, but was not released at the time because the record company believed it would not be commercially successful. When finally released in 1998, it exhibited very unusual and introspective stylings absent from his other works, including a version of "Brazil", played as a musical soundscape of a man bar-hopping where the band plays different renditions of "Brazil" at each bar.
Esquivel also worked as a composer for Revue Productions/Universal Television; where he scored the TV western series "The Tall Man," and wrote the familiar Revue/Universal TV logo fanfare.
Tribute performances (current)
Jan 14, 2011 Boston - Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica - CD Release for "The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel"
Mar 18, 2011 New York City - Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica - CD Release for "The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel" (first-ever live performance of Esquivel's big band studio orchestra music in NYC)
Influences
Kronos Quartet recorded a string quartet arrangement of Esquivel's song "Mini Skirt" for their album Nuevo.
Speak Low
Esquivel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our summer day withers away
Too soon, too soon.
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
We're swept apart too soon.
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Too soon, too soon,
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
And always too soon.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
We're late darling, we're late,
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends
Too soon, too soon,
I wait darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me,
Speak love to me and soon.
The lyrics of Esquivel's song Speak Low express a sense of urgency and fleetingness in love. The singer urges their lover to speak low and speak love, acknowledging that time is short and that their moments together are too soon gone. The first verse speaks of a summer day that withers away too soon, creating the sense that time is flying faster than it should. The second verse furthers this idea by comparing their moment together to ships adrift, swept apart too soon. The repetition of "too soon, too soon" emphasizes the feeling of time slipping away.
The chorus asks the lover to speak low, repeating the idea that their time together is fleeting. The lines "Love is a spark lost in the dark, too soon, too soon" highlights the fragility of their love and its potential to be extinguished without warning. The bridge shifts the perspective to a more general sense of the transience of everything, in which time is a thief that steals away the precious moments of life. The song ends on a note of hope, with the singer asking their lover to speak low and speak love soon.
Overall, Speak Low is a poignant meditation on the passing of time and the fleeting nature of love. The lyrics convey a sense of urgency and a desire to savor every moment, even as they slip away too soon.
Line by Line Meaning
Speak low when you speak, love,
Speak softly when you express your love
Our summer day withers away
Too soon, too soon.
Our time together is limited and quickly passing
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
We're swept apart too soon.
Our time together is fleeting and we will soon be separated
Speak low, darling speak low,
Continue speaking softly my dear
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Too soon, too soon,
Love is fleeting and can be easily extinguished
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
And always too soon.
I am constantly reminded that time is passing quickly and tomorrow will come too soon
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
Time passes quickly, whereas love is valuable and limited
We're late darling, we're late,
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends
Too soon, too soon,
Our time is running out and everything must come to an end
I wait darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me,
Speak love to me and soon.
I eagerly await your soft words of love and affection soon
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind