A composer of true distinction, a piano player of great passion. Bien sur! Indeed!" --Fred Hersch
It can sometimes be interesting to see in just what way a dream can come true. For instance experiencing the romantic passion of Piazzolla's music from the audience, to desiring the experience of actually participating, to the realization of this through the beginning of a beautiful friendship. This is in fact what happened to me in what seemed to be a chance meeting with Maestro Emilio Solla. This meeting turned into a wonderful collaboration with Emilio's ensemble, a remarkable live performance and an incredible recording experience. I sincerely hope you enjoy this offering as much as I do." --Billy Hart
About Emilio Solla
Mr Solla got his degree in Classical Piano from the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires in 1986. He studied composition, arranging, counterpoint, improvisation and conducting in Buenos Aires, Barcelona and New York with teachers such as Susana Kasakoff, Gabriel Senanes, Miquel Ortega and Bruce Barth.
His former works cover a wide range of styles, from traditional Argentinean tango to classical, from rock to jazz, from theatre to dance, and include many recordings and concerts (in many occasions as arranger and musical director) in Latin America with a large number of well-known tango, pop and jazz singers, such as Jorge Sobral (first Piazzolla's singer), Cecilia Rossetto, Miguel Cantilo and Alejandra Martin to name just a few.
In 1983 he started to compose and play his own music, a fusion of modern Argentine tango and folklore with jazz and other contemporary music styles. His first band, Apertura, was praised by Astor Piazzolla as one of the most interesting new sounds in the Buenos Aires scene. Nowadays, with six CDs as band leader for the prestigious Fresh Sound Records label and concerts all around Europe, Japan, and the US, he is considered one of the most outstanding and personal voices in this musical stream (generally referred to as tango-jazz").
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, arranged for and performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo O'Farrill's Latin Big Band and Pablo Aslan's Avantango, among others, besides performing with his NY Tango Jazz Conspiracy in some of the main venues in town, like the Jazz Standard, Smalls or Dizzy's, featuring Chris Cheek, Victor Prieto, Jorge Roeder and Richie Barshay. This quintet is releasing its first CD, Bien Sur! (Fresh Sound, 2009), with special guest Billy Hart. He continues to tour Europe twice a year with Emilio Solla & Afines, his Barcelona's based quintet, while working as a free-lance arranger and pianist in different projects in NY.
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