Folklore by Juanma Trujillo

To me, the idea of Folklore represents resourcefulness and ingenuity in spite of limitations.

This music was an exercise in managing limitations. First meant to be performed live at the Polyfold concert series, the music was reimagined so that it could be recorded remotely and with whatever resources we had available during the pandemic. This process challenged me to revise the overall concept while working within our physical and creative limitations to produce something that we were proud of.

Dayeon, Hery, Leonor, and Nick’s strength as musicians allowed me to produce a complete suite of music. Even without the ability to perform together, it was so important to have these artists contribute their voices and set me off on a different path than what I originally intended. Making this music with them was a joyous process—my community is my Folklore.

Since moving to New York in 2014 Juan Manuel Trujillo has been an active member of the jazz and improvised music scene playing in groups with artists such as Francisco Mela, Ras Moshe, Mimi Jones and Guillermo Gregorio among others.Trujillo has developed a personal playing style that embraces many musical lineages from jazz, rock and latin american music to improvised music and noise.