Born: October 29, 1962 Primary Instrument: Piano
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.
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 Big Band and Pablo Aslan’s Avantango, among others, besides performing with his Tango Jazz Conspiracy in some of the main venues in town, like the Jazz Standard or Dizzie’s, featuring Chris Cheek, Victor Prieto, Jorge Roeder and Richie Barshay. This quintet has just released 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.
“****” Four Stars. (Downbeat, August 2010 issue)
“The combination and balance between Tango and Jazz is perfect. I would have given this record a Grammy Award without thinking it twice” Paquito D’Rivera, about record “Suite Piazzollana”
Primary Instrument:
Piano
Location:
Brooklyn, NY
