Aruán Ortiz Trio
Aruán Ortiz’s solo work weaves together Afro-Haitian Gaga rhythms with Afro-Cuban rumba and yambú, transforming these traditions into deeply improvised musical meditations.
Festival audiences may remember Ortiz from last year’s acclaimed performance as the pianist in the James Brandon Quartet at the Marionette Theatre. This year, he returns with his trio—a powerful and compelling ensemble that fuses Afro-Haitian rhythms with avant-garde jazz and contemporary European classical music. Shaped by Ortiz’s long-standing musical collaborators, the outstanding bassist Brad Jones and drummer Gerald Cleaver, the trio delivers a genre-defying musical experience.
The program features material from the critically acclaimed 2023 album Serranías: Sketchbook for Piano Trio (Intakt). The 2026 tour also serves as a bridge to Ortiz’s eagerly anticipated new album, due in 2027 and announced as a landmark release in his more than three-decade artistic career.
Artist
Aruán Ortiz Trio (CUB/USA)
Aruán Ortiz has been described as “one of the most creative and original composers in the world” (Lynn René Bailey, The Art Music Lounge). Born in Cuba, the pianist, violist, and composer has lived in Brooklyn, New York, for more than 15 years, where he has become an active presence in the city’s progressive jazz and avant-garde scene.
His work reflects a profound engagement with the rich and diverse musical heritage of Afro-diasporic communities across the Americas, honoring their oral and intergenerational traditions while reimagining them within a contemporary framework. Frequently described by All About Jazz as an artist who “doesn’t simply expand the possibilities of jazz, but redefines what diasporic music can be in the 21st century,” Ortiz is celebrated as a singular stylist whose creative vision reaches far beyond the conventional boundaries of the genre.
Location
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Residenzplatz 1
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