Aruán Ortiz

The Cuban pianist and composer Aruán Ortiz performs on 8 November at CentroCentro as part of the official programme of JAZZMADRID, the International Jazz Festival of Madrid. The musician returns to the Madrid festival to give a solo piano recital, in which he combines the technique of classical piano with Cuban folklore and live improvisation.

Born in Santiago de Cuba and trained in viola and classical piano, Aruán Ortiz absorbed from an early age the influence of composers such as Bach, Mozart and Liszt, alongside the jazz language of Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum and Bud Powell. Based for many years in Brooklyn (New York), his career is defined by the integration of rhythmic elements of the African diaspora and sound traditions from Asia and the Middle East with avant-garde contemporary music. This versatility has led him to collaborate with figures such as Esperanza Spalding, Don Byron or Arturo Stable, and to compose works for orchestras, jazz groups, dance companies and chamber ensembles; he has also written music for film.

Throughout his career he has received international recognition, including the Doris Duke Impact Award (2014) and the Arranger of the Year award from Latin Jazz Corner (2011), and he was a semi-finalist in the Montreux Solo Piano Competition. Recently he premiered in New York the multidisciplinary project Transculturalism: A Postmodern Métissage, which focuses on the crossroads between musical experimentation, literature and Afro-Caribbean heritage.

In his concert at CentroCentro, Aruán Ortiz takes the stage alone to present the repertoire exclusively on piano. With no further accompaniment, the Cuban brings to the stage an intimate concert in which he carries the rhythms of his homeland into the language of current jazz, leaving constant space for improvisation.