Gabriel Ayala

Classical Guitarist, composer and writer Gabriel Ayala steps into our Indigenous circle on Talking Feather Radio. Gabriel Ayala is at the forefront of a new generation of American Indians making a career performing classical music. Gabriel is a member of the Yaqui people of southern Arizona. Ayala has released three self-distributed albums: “Self Titled” in 2003, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in 2007 and “Tango!” in 2008. He has also been a featured artist on several other CD releases. Gabriel records on Canyon Records which released their first classical CD, “Portraits” on Canyon Records Explorer Series- Classical. The Explorer Series is the new sub label developed by Canyon to be able to feature American Indian musicians performing music outside of the traditional Indian genre. Gabriel has been breaking stereotypes amongst Native and Non-Native people by performing classical, jazz, flamenco, and compelling new compositions of his own. His newly coined genre, "JazzMenco" is refreshing and exhilarating. In 2009, Gabriel was nominated and performed in the Indian Summer Music Awards, Native American Music Awards, Aboriginal People Choice Awards, and the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. He led the Native American Music Awards (NAMMY’s) with the most nominations and received Best Instrumental CD for “Tango!”. Gabriel received many accolades in this year alone including the honor of sharing the stage with Motown living legends The Four Tops and The Temptations. As Ayala continues to travel throughout the United States and other countries he serves as an advocate for education for all youth while instilling his values of living a traditional lifestyle. Gabriel believes in leading our children in the right direction through his philosophy, “Honor your elders, love your children, and respect your women”. Listen in and enjoy his masterful music that we feature during the broadcast.