Emilio Solla y La Inestable de Brooklyn

Grammy Nominee Argentina born and NY based pianist & composer Emilio Solla got his degree in Classical Piano at the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires and his MA in Jazz Composition at Queens College in New York. He continued to study composition, arranging, counterpoint, improvisation and conducting in Buenos Aires, Barcelona and New York. His first band, Apertura, was praised by Astor Piazzolla himself as one of the most interesting new sounds in the Buenos Aires scene in 1986. Nowadays, with seven CDs as band leader (Fresh Sound Records) and more than forty as arranger/producer, he is considered by peers and critics to be one of the most outstanding and personal voices in this musical stream, a fusion of modern Argentine tango and folk with jazz and other contemporary music styles (generally referred to as “Tango-Jazz”). He has performed all around Europe, Japan, the US and Latin America to raving reviews in many of the most important Jazz houses and Festivals (Bim Huis, Lincoln Center, Marciac, Blue Note, Fasching). Solla moved to Barcelona in 1996, and to New York in 2006, always in search of personal and artistic growth. Since in New York, he has composed for, arranged for and performed with Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, Edmar Castañeda, Pablo Aslan, Cristina Pato and many others, besides performing with his quintetBien Sur! in town at the Jazz Standard, Dizzie’s and Smalls, featuring saxophonist Chris Cheek. Former members of this band include Donny Mc Caslin and Jeff Ballard. This quintet has released its first CD, Bien Sur! (Fresh Sound, 2010), with special guest Billy Hart, included in the Best of 2010 list by Downbeat Magazine. He continues to tour Europe with Emilio Solla & Afines, his Barcelona’s based quintet, while working as a free-lance arranger and pianist in different projects in NY. Since November 2010, he is leading a nine piece orchestra, La Inestable de Brooklyn, featuring some of the strongest jazz players in NYC (John Ellis, Ryan Keberle) whose first CD, Second Half (2014) has just been Nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award as Best Latin Jazz Album. In November 2014 Solla’s first symphonic work had its World Premiere at the Palau de la Musica, during the Barcelona Jazz Festival and its US Premier at the Chicago Symphony Hall by the Chicago Sinfonietta, to raving reviews. 2016 will bring him back to Buenos Aires for the Premiere of the orchestral version of his Suite Piazzollana. He has a long background as educator as well, having taught regularly in different conservatories in Argentina and Spain. He is currently a Faculty Member at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and has given clinics in Jazz Composition at Emory University, Bates College, Gotemburg Music School (Sweden), Jazz & Pop Conservatory (Helsinki, Finland) “The virile throb of Astor Piazzolla was omnipresent in Emilio Solla’s stately pulse” (NY Times) “****” 4 Stars – “A lavish, assured set that speaks volumes about Solla’s accrued wisdom” (Downbeat Magazine, March 2015) “The combination and balance between Tango and Jazz is perfect” Paquito D’Rivera on the album “Suite Piazzollana” (feat. Jorge Rossy, Chris Cheek & Omer Avital) This artist does not have a bio yet. This artist does not have a bio yet. After a life of travel and discovery on three continents, Grammy nominated saxophonist Tim Armacost has established himself as one of the most important improvisers on the New York scene today. Armacost was born in Los Angeles, but came of age as a musician in Tokyo, New Delhi and Amsterdam, where he burnished his reputation as an upcoming talent, with a big tenor sound and an impeccable rhythmic sense. He tours regularly around the world both as a sideman and a leader. Armacost has worked with a phenomenal number of jazz greats, including Al Foster, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, Victor Lewis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Peter Erskine, Ray Drummond, Roy Hargrove, Don Friedman and Randy Brecker. He has recorded 14 critically acclaimed records as a leader, performed on more than 50 as a sideman, and has composed for Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He is a widely respected educator, teaching at the Jamey Aebersold and Stanford Summer Jazz Workshops, at Queens College in New York City and as a clinician at Universities throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe. In addition to his own groups, Armacost co-leads the New York Standards Quartet, and the Brooklyn Big Band, for which he composes and arranges. His most recent recording, Time Being, featuring Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and Bob Hurst has met with critical acclaim around the world. weblinks: www.timarmacost.com www.nysq.org This artist does not have a bio yet. David Smith is a sought-after trumpet player based in New York City. He has released three albums featuring his original compositions for Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records and Fresh Sound New Talent (Impetus, Anticipation and Circumstance) and has appeared as a sideman on over sixty recordings, including for Harry Connick, Jr., Glen Hansard, Alan Ferber (including his Grammy- nominated March Sublime), Jon Gordon, Tom Jones, Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and many others. Live performances include with Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra under the direction of Carla Bley, The Who, Glen Hansard and Alan Ferber's Big Band and Nonet. David has a Master of Arts Degree in Jazz Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York, and is Artist Teacher in trumpet at the Hartt School, University of Hartford and an adjunct faculty member at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. Additionally he has been faculty at the Meet the Masters Summer Jazz Workshop, Maine Jazz Camp and Taipei International Summer Jazz Academy and maintains a private trumpet studio. In 2015 his composition "Halloween Song" was awarded third prize in the jazz category of the International Songwriting Competition. Weblinks: www.davesmithtrumpet.com This artist does not have a bio yet. This artist does not have a bio yet. This artist does not have a bio yet.