Our current Spotlight Artist, Coto Pincheira brings a cutting edge modern Latin Jazz sound to the forefront of his compositions through his current release The Sonido Moderno Project. He combines the best elements of fusion, Afro-Cuban music, and jazz improvisation into an intriguing mix, proving that the Latin Jazz world holds plenty of room for innovation. He integrates the influence of modern Cuban music, reflecting ideas from Irakere, Mezcla, and a number of contemporary timba bands. These inspirations come from authentic experiences, a result of Pincheira’s extensive performing experience in South America, Cuba, and beyond. His talents as a pianist, composer, and arranger have earned the respect and admiration of numerous musicians, including some legendary figures that appear on the album, timbalero Orestes Vilato and violin player Alfredo de la Fe. Now a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Pincheira utilizes some of the regions highly respected musicians, including trumpet player Mike Olmos, drummer David Flores, guitarist Dave McNab, and saxophone player Sheldon Brown. These musicians interpret Pincheira’s challenging compositions with skill and deep musicianship, giving the content even more flavor, and a healthy dose of enthusiastic fire. All the pieces come together into a strong mixture that should appeal to a wide number of LJC readers; there’s a lot of great music on The Sonido Moderno Project worth checking out. Pincheira really presents an original voice through his music, and fortunately, there’s plenty of places to check out his work online. Pincheira’s website includes a number of great features, including pictures, music samples, links, a bio, and much more. Become Pincheira’s friend at his MySpace page, where you’ll find streaming music, pictures, video, and more. Pincheira has done us all a favor and captured plenty of great video, featuring clips of his band as well as footage of him performing with other ensembles - you can catch it all on his YouTube page. You can become part of Pincheira’s network on his Facebook page, giving you access to photos, direct chat, and his wonderful wall. If you like what you hear, you can head on over to Pincheira’s CDBaby page, take the leap, and support Pincheira by purchasing the album. You’ve got plenty of possible options, so get out there and check out Pincheira’s music; you’ll like what you hear.
If you like your Latin Jazz with a modern edge, a bit of fusion, a powerful dose of musicianship, and a passionate energy, you’ve got to check out The Sonido Moderno Project
From the coast of South America to the coast of El Caribe and now to the coast of San Francisco, Chilean born pianist Julio “Coto” Pincheira is one of the most sought after and well-respected musicians on the Bay Area jazz scene. Coto is an internationally experienced pianist and musical leader with over 20 years of education and experience, playing a variety of musical styles which include but are not limited to: classical, jazz, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Cuban salsa, and pop music. Coto is on the forefront of a new sound bringing Electro-Acoustic timbres into Latin Jazz
Coto started his music studies at the early age of nine, studying organ at the Yamaha Academy in Viña Del Mar with Leonardo Barrientos, and piano at the Conservatory of the Catholic University of Valparaiso with Professor Anibal Correa, Chile’s most renowned classical pianist. Coto also studied classical music in several conservatories of Viña Del Mar and Santiago. In 1990 Coto studied at the Modern School of Music in Santiago Chile’s most prestigious institution. Of course, the best school of all was “La Calle” (The streets) where there is an infinite amount of music to learn and to experience that will never end.
At 24 Coto headed to Havana, Cuba for ten years, meeting, studying and getting to work with Cuba most renowned pianists such as Hilario Duran, Ernan Lopez Nussa, Ruben Gonzales, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdes, and Frank Emilio. His abilities were such that he performed for two years in the world famous Tropicana Cabaret - the first and only foreign pianist to accomplish the honor of playing with the big band (36 musicians ) for 2 years. He also had the privlege of playing for artists such as Omara Portuondo, Oscar Valdes, Amaury Perez Los Papines, Bamboleo, and Oscar Valdes Y Su Grupo Diakara.
He came to the San Francisco Bay Area in mid 2002 gracing the Cuban Salsa and jazz scene. Coto consistently plays with the most respected musicians around the Bay Area. some of the well-known artists from the Bay Area that he has played with include John Santos and The Machete Ensemble and Ritmo Y Armonia.
