Gustavo Díaz Quartet

Toledo-born saxophonist, pianist and composer Gustavo Díaz performs on 31 October at Sala Villanos at the head of his quartet. The concert forms part of the Villanos del Jazz cycle and JAZZMADRID26. Festival Internacional Jazz Madrid.

Musically trained in Madrid and now based in Seville, Gustavo Díaz combines his performing career with teaching saxophone and jazz composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel Castillo in the Andalusian capital. He holds a doctorate from the URJC (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos), with research focused on contemporary improvisation, and his musical career is defined by integrating the classic language of jazz with current harmonic and rhythmic structures.

His discography as a leader includes works such as Cromatonal (2016) and Incipit vita nova (2018), recordings in which he developed concepts of improvisation far removed from the conventional formulas of the genre and explored melodic searching.

For this concert in Madrid, the musician appears in quartet format alongside a strong instrumental section made up of Luis Guerra on piano, Javier Moreno on double bass and Rodrigo Ballesteros on drums. The group delivers a live performance built on the constant dialogue between its four members, presenting a repertoire of original pieces where scored arrangements intersect with wide margins for improvisation and the intimacy of the acoustic format.

Lineup:

Luis Guerra - Piano

Javier Moreno - Double bass

Rodrigo Ballesteros - Drums

Gustavo Díaz - Saxophone