Elio Villafranca

Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca – New Afro-Cuban Jazz launch

New York-based, Cuban pianist/composer Elio Villafranca will tour to Melbourne to perform works from his latest album ‘Standing at the Crossroads’ in collaboration with a fusion of Latin and jazz musicians from Australia’s east coast featuring trumpeter Tom Avgenicos (Delay 45), alto/soprano saxophonist Gai Bryant (Jim McNeely, Elio Villafranca), tenor saxophonist Craig Walters (Mike Nock, Don Rader), bassist Harry Birch (Holopeak, Miles Rooney), drummer Ryan Menezes ( Roddy and the Fellas, Los Cabrones), percussionist Kent Windress ( La Clave, Caribe).

Standing by the Crossroads is part of a trilogy (CINQUE – Standing by the Crossroads – Don’t Change My Name] that speaks about Villafranca’s life experiences as an artist in Cuba and in New York. This seminal work showcases the role of Congolese music and ritual in the development of Cuban music. Downbeat Magazine named ‘Standing by the Crossroads’ as one of the top Afro-Latin jazz releases of 2023.

Born in the Pinar del Río province of Western Cuba, Villafranca was classically trained in percussion and composition at the prestigious Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba. In 1995 he relocated to the U.S where he has worked extensively in the jazz and Latin jazz scenes. In the wake of early innovators such as Mario Bauza and Machito and later Chuchos Valdes, Villafranca is at the forefront of the latest generation of remarkable Cuban pianists and composers making major creative contributions to the international development of Cuban jazz. Since his debut album “Incantations/Encantaciones” ranked amongst the Top 50 albums of 2003 (JazzTimes), the Steinway artist and duel Grammy nominee has received a multitude of accolades including Jazz Corner’s Pianist of the Year (2008), BMI Jazz Guaranty Award (2008) and the NFA/Heineken Green Ribbon Master Artist Music Grant (2008), Downbeat Critics’ Poll Rising Stars Keyboard (2018), the Sunshine Award, the first Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennium Swing! Award and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient(2021).

In 2010 he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Album (2010) and in 2014 received the Millennium Swing Award at Jazz at the Lincoln Centre.. In 2017 he was among five pianists chosen by Chick Corea to perform at the first Chick Corea Jazz Festival, also receiving the Sunshine Award which recognises excellence in the performing arts, education, science, and sports of the various Caribbean countries, South America, Central America, and Africa and is a Guggenheim recipient (2021).

His music has been described as “passionate” and “a new application of ancient ways” by jazz legend Chick Corea, while internationally celebrated trumpeter and Artistic Director of Jazz at the Lincoln Centre, Wynton Marsalis, professes to having been “profoundly moved” by the Cuban composer’s vision and musicianship. Villafranca has released 10 albums under his name. He has performed nationally and internationally as leader of his quartet, and as a sideman he has collaborated with leading jazz and Latin jazz artists including: Pat Martino, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Paquito D’Rivera, Chick Corea, Jon Faddis, and Johnny Pacheco. He’s based in NYC and is a jazz faculty member at Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, and Temple University in Philadelphia