Player Spotlight: Alfredo Caceres

Alfredo Cáceres is a friend of GSI who has recorded many videos in our showroom in the past as both a solo act and part of a duo alongside Waldo Valenzuela. Find out more about Alfredo’s musical tastes and expansive career below.

Born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Alfredo Cáceres, a complete guitarist and composer, has been involved in a wide variety of projects and bands in styles ranging from World music, Flamenco, Jazz, Brazilian, Salsa, Pop and Latin. He has collaborated on several recordings in local and international productions, as well as in different festivals in the United States and in Europe. Alfredo has been living in the United States full-time since 2009, and has played alongside many different artists in the World Music arena, such as Persian singer Hamed Nikpay, guitarist Russ Hewitt, the Gypsy All Stars (of the Gipsy Kings family), Mario Reyes, and Marcus Nand (Ziroq), just to name a few.

In 2012, Cáceres released his first solo album in the U.S., one that involves a variety of his original compositions within the last ten years, recorded in his hometown of Guatemala and in Los Angeles, California.

Alfredo’s musical education started in this homeland of Guatemala with his first teacher, his father, Alfredo Cáceres Sr. He would later continue to study with different guitarists such as with spanish guitarist Paco Galiano in flamenco and with German Giordano in jazz. He also learned sight reading with William Orbaugh, as well as with drummers Byron Campo and Fernando Martin at the Poliritmos Academy.

Alfredo traveled to Seville, Spain on a three year scholarship from the Fundación Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco. While there, he trained extensively under different well-known Flamenco guitarists such as Miguel Ángel Cortés, Niño de Pura, Eduardo Rebollar, Paco Serrano, Paco Cortés, Juan Manuel Canizares, Manolo Sanlúcar, and Rafael Canizares, among others. At the Fundación, he received instruction for two years in flamenco compás (Flamenco rhythms) from Paco de Lucía’s dancer & cajón player, the late Manolo Soler.

After being in Spain, Cáceres attended Brookhaven College in Dallas, Texas on a two year scholarship, giving him the opportunity to play jazz guitar and go on tour in the U.S. and in Mexico with the award-winning Brookhaven Vocal Jazz Ensemble. In Brookhaven College, he pursued jazz guitar with guitarist Paul Metzger. Subsequently, Alfredo came to live in California where he occasionally studies with world-renowned guitarist Jorge Strunz from the guitar duet Strunz & Farah.

Hispanica by Alfredo Cáceres and Waldo Valenzuela

As part of their duo collaboration, Alfredo Cáceres and Waldo Valenzuela released a new album this year titled Hispanica. The project’s basic premise is to set an acoustic album that describes the duo’s musical journey as guitarists and composers. The main idea of this recording is to put together a set of nylon guitar styles that cover music from South America, Central America, Spain and the Middle East. The duo include some ethnic rhythms like “Chacarera” from Argentina/Chile, “Partido Alto” and “Samba do Rancho” from Brazil, “Bolero” and “Salsa” from Central America as well as “Rumba Flamenca” from Spain, “Gipsy Jazz” and some Middle Eastern rhythms, all fused with a jazz style. You can find their 30-second samples of Hispanica tracks on SoundCloud.

ALFREDO CACERES GUITAR DEMOS (view all)