Curations In Via These Artists
Curations Out to These
Who's taking you?
- Curation by: The Matrix
Who I Am & Where I Live
- Name: David Virelles
- City: New York City
- Country: United States
- Hometown: Santiago de Cuba
My Life & Work
-
Bio:
Cuban-born pianist David Virelles grew up in a musical home, his father a singer-songwriter and his mother a flutist and music teacher. Even though classically trained at the conservatory, he was also surrounded by many types of music in the culturally rich Santiago while growing up. Eventually, Virelles also discovered Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Andrew Hill, and he would soon start studying the connections between this musical tradition and those from his birthplace.
Since his arrival to NYC, he has appeared on live concerts and recordings with musicians as distinct as Steve Coleman, Mark Turner, Henry Threadgill, Andrew Cyrille, Chris Potter, Wadada Leo Smith, Tom Harrell, Milford Graves and Ravi Coltrane.
Virelles is a Shifting Foundation Fellow, a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts, Louis Applebaum Award and Jazz Gallery Commission. While a student at Humber College in Toronto he won the Oscar Peterson Prize, presented by Peterson himself.
David’s 2012 release Continuum (Pi Recordings) united Andrew Cyrille, Ben Street and Román Díaz. This album ended on many “Best Of The Year” lists, including The New York Times. Since then, he has released three more albums on the Munich label ECM to critical acclaim, documenting a wide sonic range – Mbóko (a book of compositions commissioned by The Jazz Gallery), Antenna, and his latest Gnosis – these last two works were made possible by the generous support of The Shifting Foundation. Virelles was named #1 Rising Star in the Piano category by DownBeat in 2017. He is also one of the 2018 Cristobal Díaz Ayala Travel Grant recipients.
My Media
- ▶ Instagram: davidvirellespiano
- ▶ Website: http://www.davidvirelles.com
Click to Listen on Spotify
- ▶ (Album/Podcast 1): http://open.spotify.com/album/6VuKwQK0spar0MQIUVOWPX
- ▶ (Album/Podcast 2): http://open.spotify.com/album/3qxxcmMwPapjv1bjOtrILF
- ▶ (Album/Podcast 3): http://open.spotify.com/album/0GAKlp2nssdLxHXwS2KHho
More
-
Quotes, Notes & Etc.
“Virelles looks set to make big differences in contemporary music for years to come.”
- The Guardian
“A different side to the great legacy of pianists that come from Cuba… He is the new school.”
- Gilles Peterson
“…there is a young Cuban pianist named David Virelles, whom I consider a genius.”
- Chucho Valdés
“It’s got nerve and soul and memory.”
- The New York Times
▶ Brazil has something called "jeitinho" (zhay-TEEN-you), the "little way". In a land where the official way is often impossible, people get things done by other means.
▶ The matrix is jeitinho. It allows splendid Brazilian musicians to be discovered and accessed from everywhere. But to work for the Brazilians, it has to work for everyone.
▶ All explained inside the dot-defined window immediately below (curated artists below this window)... from Brazil, with love!
This matrix is predicated on the fact that fame & fortune are not inextricably linked to talent, dedication, and even genius.
Brazil has something called "jeitinho", the "little way". In a country where the official way is so often impossible, people have to be creative. Do end runs around problems and powers-that-be.
The matrix is jeitinho. All explained inside the dot-defined window immediately below. Matrix encompassed artists below the window.