javierbatiz

Guitarist Javier Bátiz hails from Tijuana, B.C. Mexico, but doesn’t play stereotypical Latin American Music. Instead, the veteran player has been dubbed “The godfather of Mexican Rock” by those who follow his career, and several notable musicians who have gone on to successful careers in the United States got their starts in Bátiz´s bands. Batiz began playing acoustic guitar at age tree, recalling that,” … in those times, you’d get one guitar and hope it would last a lifetime; used to have t...

Guitarist Javier Bátiz hails from Tijuana, B.C. Mexico, but doesn’t play stereotypical Latin American Music. Instead, the veteran player has been dubbed “The godfather of Mexican Rock” by those who follow his career, and several notable musicians who have gone on to successful careers in the United States got their starts in Bátiz´s bands. Batiz began playing acoustic guitar at age tree, recalling that,” … in those times, you’d get one guitar and hope it would last a lifetime; used to have to patch mine together with tape.” And while he grew up in a home replete with music, his family wasn’t comprised of professional musicians. Mama used to sing when she would do the dishes, and my sisters would sing with each other, learning to harmonize”, he said . The guitarist’s musical epiphany regarding American music, (Blues and R&B in particular) is credited to a San Diego record store owner Ray Robinson, who also hosted a radio show on a Tijuana Station. “ It was on late at night, and that’s where I first heard Sonny Boy Williamson, John lee Hooker, Elmore James, Robert Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters; a lot of blues people,” Batiz called. “The program was called ‘Ray Robinson’s record Rack.’ In San Diego then, the black music was segregated, and it wasn’t easy for the guys to get airplay. So Ray was really smart –he came down to XEAZ in Tijuana, and rented some airtime. When the Spanish –speaking radio programs went off the air, all of this great music came on, and it turned my life around!” Batiz first guitar was a Kamico (Kay sub-brand) solid body his mother purchased for him. “I played that guitar from 1957 to maybe 1961.” He formed the Tj’s in 1957, and began playing at the Convoy Club in Tijuana. A Photo of Batiz from that time shows him brandishing a Gibson ES-225T, but the guitarist says it wasn’t his instrument; the club owner didn’t like the sound of Batiz’s Kamico, and bought the Gibson to loan to the guitarist for performances. In ’61, Batiz acquired a solid body Epiphone double-cutaway he also used for years. Another early influence was expatriate American Gene Ross (now deceased), who performed in Tijuana, and inspired the budding Mexican guitarist to learn how to perform the American music he loved listening to on XEAZ. “We were am R&B, black-oriented band, and we would sing in both English and Spanish,” he said “The term Tex-Mex may have come out of Texas and Mexico, but the music actually started in Tijuana. Nobody had ever heard anything like it.” Los Tj’s also had a horn section, but according to Batiz,” … They would only play one note together; they didn’t know how to harmonize!” The Band performed in the Tijuana area for six years and attained a nominal amount of regional success until Batiz opted to journey to Mexico City in ’63 to purvey his new music there. But in the Tj’s heyday, one individual who played bass in the aggregation was a young boy named Carlos Santana; Batiz recalled the young player’s initial foray into popular music with the Tijuana Combo. “His mama bought him over to my house and asked me to help teach him to play guitar,” “We became very good friends, and we used to build model cars together, and listen to records. I told him I could teach him how to play guitar, but I really needed a bass player, so my condition was that I’d have to teach him how to play the guitar and the bass. I taught him how to play the blues guitar, and you can play the blues on acoustic or electric.” Former members of the Tj’s besides Santana would go on to found their own bands, and when Batiz ventured to his country’s capital city, he ultimately hooked up with other musicians who would attain success in subsequent musical associations. Fito De LA Parra, drummer for Canned Heat, also played Batiz (Albeit in Mexico City) before he migrates to U.S. “When I came to Mexico City, I was playing music no one there had heard before,” Everybody wanted to play with me, and I had auditions. When heard Fito play, he blew me away, and I taught him how to play the blues, too, because you can play Rock and Roll or the cha-cha-cha on the drums pretty easy, but you still have to learn how to play the blues on the drums, Everybody can go through the motions, but the emotion and the soul is something else.” The musical friendship of Batiz and De la Parra would endure over decades, and in 1999, Javier played guitar on a track called “World of Make believe” on Canned heat’s Boogie 2000 Album (Ruf Records), and he toured with the band in Italy that same year. Abraham Laboriel, played guitar with Batiz during the latter’s tenure in Mexico City, Laboriel would go in to play bass with the legendary progressive Jazz outfit weather Report. “He’s the brother of one of my dearest and closest friends, a singer named Johnny laboriel,” “I came from Tijuana to Mexico City to replace him as a singer in a band was working with. If there was a Rock and roll hall of fame in Mexico, he would be the first one to go in, Abraham was younger, and I taught him how to play the blues guitar. After he play guitar with me, he became the bass player a band called Los Profetas (the Prophets). Batiz’s Distinctive oozing/snaring guitar tone originally evolved with some innovative modifications to his amplifiers (Which included a Fender Tremolux and a fender Concert). “When we started playing, we would cut little ovals in our speakers, because I’d noticed one time that I’d blown a speaker, but the notes lasted longer, And if I put a lot of bass on the tone controls, the notes would last even longer, and they squealed. So I thought that if I cut my speakers purpose, it would help me get the sound I wanted. I don’t cut my speaker anymore I use a Turbo distortion unit.” Javier did a movie in ‘64 called El Viento Distante (The Distant Wind) and it won a prize for the best music in motion picture in Austria,” He write music, He write scripts, and He act a lot, too” Batiz has been-purveying his unique music in his native land for decades, and his playing abilities have garnered attention and accolades from other notable musicians, some of whom consider him to have a mentor and inspirations, One poster advertising a performance by Batiz included the phrase “La Leyenda” (“The legend”), but the guitarist eschews the application of that term to both him and his music, opining that it’s more suitable for a deceased person. “I’m still here!” “So Call me the Thunder” “Hurricane” or “The Forgotten Angel!” Call him whatever, but the Javier Batiz saga is indeed ongoing, and his determination to present his beloved music on his own terms is intriguing, like the music it self.