Here’s a map of single-copy locations.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nShowtime at Krannert The Marel Hidalgo Quartet is set to take the Krannert Center stage Thursday, part of opening night of Ellnora: The Guitar Festival. The event kicks off with the performance of the national anthem by another teen musician and her band, Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge, at 5:15 p.m., followed by the Marel Hidalgo Quartet at 6:30 p.m., Bertha: Grateful Drag at 7:30 p.m., and the Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis at 8:30 p.m. The festival runs through Saturday, with a mix of free and ticketed performances across a spectrum of musical genres.<\/p>\n
URBANA \u2014 Marel Hidalgo was first inspired to pick up an instrument at the tender age of 4 after seeing a cartoon dog playing the guitar on PBS Kids.<\/p>\n
Soon after, he began taking guitar lessons at a local music store after proving that he could place his small fingers on the proper frets and pay attention well enough to take instruction. Less than two years later, he made his professional debut.<\/p>\n
Now 17, his resume includes performances at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, the Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club in Paris, Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica and the New York Guitar Festival.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, he can add the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts to that list. The Marel Hidalgo Quartet will be in town to help kick off Krannert\u2019s 2025-26 season on the opening night of Ellnora: The Guitar Festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part (of playing live) is the fact that you\u2019re playing for other people. Sure, they\u2019re clapping for you, but I think music has an impact on people as a whole,\u201d Hidalgo says. \u201cSomeone could have a long day at work, but the music really changes how you feel about certain things. It\u2019s also a service to people. You really gotta share the music for it to matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey personally came out here to see us play,\u201d he says. \u201cWe try to \u2026 send them home with something they\u2019ll remember. That\u2019s really the goal with me when it comes to performing.\u201d<\/p>\n
How it began<\/h3>\n
Hidalgo took formal lessons for about eight years and credits his guitar teacher with giving him a solid musical foundation and his parents for supporting him throughout his journey.<\/p>\n
Now, though, he hones his skills playing jazz clubs and festivals in the United States and abroad. His visit to Urbana this week will be the last stop on his current tour, and he plans to hang out for the weekend, sharing Krannert\u2019s green room with a wildly talented pool of guitarists.<\/p>\n
While Hidalgo will be playing music with a jazz flair, it\u2019s not the only type of music he plays, and he doesn\u2019t want to be defined by it.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though people call me a jazz guitarist \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s completely true,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is very much so a part of what I play, but I don\u2019t want to pigeon-hole myself into one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first few years of his career, he dabbled in a variety of genres, from blues to progressive rock to reggae. He effortlessly performed guitar solos by the likes of Prince, Santana and Joe Satriani. Then, a couple years ago he became interested in jazz.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was quite the change from \u2026 the music that I loved,\u201d says Hidalgo, whose fascination with jazz came during a period of transition. His band members were retiring or heading off to college, which made him think it was time to try going solo.<\/p>\n
Broadening his horizons<\/h3>\n
\u201cSomebody told me to check out (jazz guitarist) Joe Pass. That\u2019s really how I heard about jazz to begin with,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Then he started playing with other musicians and he rediscovered Ernest Ranglin, a pioneering Jamaican guitarist whose music he first heard as a 5-year-old.<\/p>\n
Ranglin, says Hidalgo, is a \u201cnotorious session musician\u201d who played with reggae superstars Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the songs that you\u2019ve heard that are reggae, he was either arranging it and playing guitar on it or had a very heavy role in it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Despite his reputation as a reggae musician, it turns out Ranglin also has jazz chops.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found out that he was originally a jazz guitarist \u2014 a really remarkable one \u2014 so I sort of kind of also got more into jazz thanks to him,\u201d Hidalgo says.<\/p>\n
When Hidalgo and his quartet perform at Ellnora, they will be playing a set list that is an homage to the 93-year-old Ranglin. The performance, says Hidalgo, will be \u201ca big celebration of his impact on music as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all music composed or arranged by Ranglin as well as traditional Jamaican music with calypso.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it\u2019s not exactly jazz, there\u2019s a very heavy influence,\u201d Hidalgo says. \u201cIt\u2019s basically reggae, ska and calypso with jazz inflections in it. The drums are playing reggae, the bass is holding down the reggae bass line, the piano is holding down the beat as well. But what we do on top of that leans more toward jazz with the rhythm of that Caribbean music, which is something Ranglin is really the master of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing jazz and reggae keeps things fresh for Hidalgo. The improvisational aspect of the two genres keeps him and his band members from tiring of the music, even if they are performing the same songs at multiple stops on a tour.<\/p>\n
With reggae, \u201cthe groove is always going to be there,\u201d he explains, but the nature of the music allows for \u201cdifferent ideas\u201d when playing live. \u201cOne song could last either five minutes if you\u2019re on a schedule, or it could last two hours because it\u2019s like a trance sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
A musical conversation<\/h3>\n
The same can be said for jazz.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really big conversation,\u201d Hidalgo says. \u201cWe\u2019re (the band) just paying attention to what everyone is \u2018saying.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not exactly free jazz since all the musicians usually know what chords are going to be played, but there is still a lot of latitude, he says: \u201cIt always works out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no wrong way to have a conversation,\u201d he emphasizes, \u201cexcept if you\u2019re not listening. If you ask me a question and I completely ignore it and I start talking about how the weather is in Timbuktu, that wouldn\u2019t be a very productive conversation. As long as you listen in this music, everything should end up making sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listening is also important when learning the ins and outs of jazz musicianship, Hidalgo adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI listen to a bunch of records and a bunch of albums, and just listening to how someone plays a tune \u2026 it\u2019s the same way children learn how to speak,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ll first begin to imitate what they see their parents do and then they\u2019ll start to understand words and put together sentences and within time, they\u2019ll be as fluent as they can be.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first guitar teacher, he really was the one who put it in my head that reading music is good, but you know, learn stuff by ear, nail stuff down note by note before you say you know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Hidalgo is already quite accomplished on the guitar, there\u2019s always room to learn more, especially in the jazz realm. One of the best ways to learn, in Hidalgo\u2019s opinion, is to sit and play with other accomplished musicians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had the opportunity to play with a lot of really great jazz legends,\u201d he says, \u201cand every single song you play with them is a master class in and of itself since there\u2019s so much going on. Jazz is a really interactive music that whether you like it or not, every single gig and every single concert you do, you\u2019re going to learn a few things off of it.<\/p>\n
Interactivity also defines one of the lessons he\u2019s learned along the way, which is to value the wisdom and life experiences of other musicians he encounters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might not be better than you and you might not be better than them, but they know something you don\u2019t and you\u2019re going to know something they don\u2019t,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, if you keep your ears open, you\u2019ll probably catch just about everything you need to catch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning from others is just one part of his growth as a musician, however. Another is the value of practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really is a lifelong process,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He recalls hearing the story of a seasoned cellist who was asked why he still practiced so much despite being a long-time member of a renowned orchestra. The cellist\u2019s answer: \u201cBecause I think I\u2019m making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hidalgo\u2019s takeaway: Don\u2019t be so ego-driven that you don\u2019t think you need to practice.<\/p>\n
Becoming an accomplished musician is a multi-faceted endeavor, based on Hidalgo\u2019s experience thus far. From learning the value of practice to having conversations and jamming with other musicians, Hidalgo appears to be well on his way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s room for everything,\u201d he says, \u201cbut when it comes to jazz, I\u2019d have to say most of it comes from \u2018What did you learn on the bandstand?\u2019 and \u2018What did you learn from listening to people?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n