Fabian Almazan (born April 16, 1984) is a

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

born in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, and raised in Miami, Florida.

Biography

In addition to being a solo artist,NPR.or
Fabian Almazan Trio String Quartet Live at the Village Vanguard
Retrieved November 2013. Almazan is the founder and director of ''Biophilia Records'' and has held the piano chair in Jazz Trumpeter

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

's band since 2007.JazzTimes.co
Fabian Almazan Scores Big
Retrieved November 2013. Fabian Almazan began studying classical piano at an early age in his homeland,

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. Having fled Cuba in political exile to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, his parents could not afford private piano lessons. Pianist Conchita Betancourt graciously taught Almazan free of charge for over three years, allowing him to audition for the

New World School of the Arts New World School of the Arts (NWSA) is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida. Its dual-enrollment programs in the visual and performing arts are organized into four strands: visual arts, dance, theatre (comprising prog ...

where he studied from 1998 to 2002.Almazan, Fabia
Official Site-Biography
Retrieved November 2013. In 2002, Almazan was selected for the piano chair in the National Grammy High School Jazz Combo. Almazan later went on to win the piano chair for the

Brubeck Institute The Brubeck Institute was a special program at the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. It was founded in 2000 by noted Jazz pianist and Pacific alum Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) w ...

fellowship program based in northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where he studied with

Mark Levine Mark Andrew LeVine is an American historian, musician, writer, and professor. He is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. Education LeVine received his B.A. in comparative religion and biblical studies from Hunter ...

and performed with

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

and

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

. In 2003, Almazan moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he studied with

Kenny Barron Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Biography Born in Philadel ...

at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. While pursuing his bachelor's degree, Almazan studied instrumentation and orchestration with Giampaolo Bracali. Under Bracali, Almazan composed pieces for orchestra and chamber ensembles. In 2009, Almazan received his master's degree from

, as a recipient of the Michael W. Greene Scholarship, studying privately with

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

. Almazan received the Cintas Foundation 2010/11 Brandon Fradd Award in

Music Composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

. In 2011, Almazan was selected as one of six composers to participate in the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...

Composers' Lab, where he studied with such acclaimed film composers as

George S. Clinton George Stanley Clinton, Jr. (born June 17, 1947) is an American composer, songwriter, arranger, and session musician. Biography Clinton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His musical career began in Nashville while earning degrees in music and ...

, Peter Golub,

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, ''Spy Game'', ''Phone Booth'', ...

Ed Shearmur Edward Shearmur (also known as Ed Shearmur; born 28 February 1966) is a British film composer. Born in London, England, at age seven he sang in the boys' choir at Westminster Cathedral. Educated at Eton College, he studied at the Royal College o ...

Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Back ...

, and

Christopher Young Christopher Young (born April 28, 1957) is an American composer and orchestrator of film and television scores. Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''Hellraiser'', ''Species'', ''Urban Legend'', ''The Grudge'', ...

.West, Michael J
Fabian Almazan Scores Big
JazzTimes.com, January 12, 2012. Since 2007, Almazan has toured extensively with the

Quintet, of which he is a current member. Almazan is said to be "one of the great young talents of his generation” by Blanchard. Almazan has also performed alongside esteemed artists such as

Gretchen Parlato Gretchen Parlato (born February 11, 1976) is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke. Pa ...

, Paquito D'Rivera,

Christian Scott Christian Scott (born March 31, 1983), known professionally as Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah), is an American jazz trumpeter, multi instrumentalist, composer, and producer. He has been nominated for six Gramm ...

Chris Dingman Christopher Robert Dingman (born July 6, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League with the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Playing care ...

, David Sanchez,

Stefon Harris Stefon DeLeon Harris (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Biography A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker. During the 1990s he recorded ...

Kendrick Scott Kendrick Scott (born July 8, 1980 in Houston, Texas, United States) is an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. He is the founder of the record label World Culture Music. Biography Kendrick A.D. Scott was born and raised in Houston. ...

, and

Ambrose Akinmusire Ambrose Akinmusire ( born May 1, 1982) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and trumpeter. Biography Born and raised in Oakland, California, Akinmusire was a member of the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, where he caught the attention of ...

, among others.ArtistShar
Featured Artists
ArtistShare.com, Retrieved November 2013. ''Personalities'', Almazan's debut album as a leader, was released in October 2011 on Biophilia/

Palmetto Records Palmetto Records is an independent American jazz record company and label in New York City founded in 1990 by guitarist Matt Balitsaris. Issues began with those by Balitsaris, then Greg Hatza in 1993. Since then, its catalog has included albums ...

, and featured

Linda Oh Linda May Han Oh (born 25 August 1984) is an Australian jazz bassist and composer. Biography Oh was raised in Western Australia. When she was 11, she started to play the clarinet and at the age of 13 bassoon. She went to Churchlands Senior Hi ...

, Henry Cole, Meg Okura, Megan Gould, Karen Waltuch, and Noah Hoffeld. Almazan "demonstrates intuitive control over Latin jazz repertoire and feeling"Jarenwattananon, Patric
Fabian Almazan: Live at the Village Vanguard
NPR.org, October 12, 2011. and his music is referred to as "intense and crystalline",Ratliff, Be

NYTimes.com, January 8, 2012. "multifaceted and intriguing",Turner, Mark F
Fabian Almazan: Personalities (2011)
AllAboutJazz.com, September 29, 2011. and full of "unexpected twists".Barton, Chri

LATimes.com, October 21, 2011. Almazan's album, ''Rhizome'', released in the Spring of 2014, was the first project to be released on the joint label Blue Note/

ArtistShare ArtistShare is the internet's first commercial crowdfunding website.Crowd-Funding 101: What Every Musician Needs for a Successful Campaign It also operates as a record label and business model for artists which enables them to fund their projec ...

.ArtistShar
Rhizome Project Page
ArtistShare.com, Referenced November 2013. Fabian Almazan to release "Rhizome" on Blue Note-ArtistShare
BlueNote.com, October 22, 2013.

Discography

As leader

* ''Personalities'' (Biophilia, 2011) * ''Rhizome'' with Rhizome (AriststShare, 2014) * ''SWR New Jazz Meeting 2015'' (Jazzhaus, 2017) * ''Alcanza'' (Biophilia, 2017) * ''This Land Abounds with Life'' (Biophilia, 2019)

As sideman

With

* ''

Choices A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a given ...

'' (Concord Jazz, 2009) * ''

Red Tails ''Red Tails'' is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States A ...

'' (Sony, 2012) * ''

Magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

'' (Blue Note, 2013) * '' Breathless'' (Blue Note, 2015) * ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' (Blue Note, 2018) With others * Anthony Branker, ''Beauty Within'' (Origin, 2016) *

Oran Etkin Oran Etkin is a jazz and world music musician. Biography A native of Israel, after his family moved to Boston he took piano lessons when he was five years old. At fourteen he studied clarinet with Yusef Lateef and George Garzone. He attended Bra ...

, ''Timbalooloo: Wake Up Clarinet!'' (Timbalooloo, 2010) * Maria Grand, ''Magdalena'' (Biophilia, 2018) *

Mark Guiliana Mark Guiliana (born September 2, 1980) is a Grammy-nominated American drummer, composer and leader of the band Beat Music. He is known for his playing with Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Jason ...

, ''Jersey'' (Motema, 2017) *

Jim Snidero James J. Snidero (born May 29, 1958 in Redwood City, California, United States) is an American jazz saxophonist. Performance career Snidero grew up in the Washington DC area (Camp Springs, MD), then attended the U of North Texas and performed in ...

, ''Main Street'' (Savant, 2015) *

Linda May Han Oh Linda May Han Oh (born 25 August 1984) is an Australian jazz bassist and composer. Biography Oh was raised in Western Australia. When she was 11, she started to play the clarinet and at the age of 13 bassoon. She went to Churchlands Senior ...

, ''Initial Here'' (Greenleaf, 2012) *

, ''Walk Against Wind'' (Biophilia, 2017) * The Wee Trio, ''Wee + 3'' (Bionic, 2016)

Filmography

Composer

* 2010 ''First Match (short)'' * 2011 ''The Recorder Exam (short)'' * 2014 ''Reaching Home (short)'' * 2014 ''Socks & Bonds (short)'' * 2015 ''Understudies (TV Movie)'' * 2015 ''The Sonnet Project (TV Series)'' (1 episode) - Sonnet #144 * 2015 ''Somewhere in the Waves'' * 2016 ''Dots''

Soundtrack

* 2008 ''

Miracle at St. Anna ''Miracle at St. Anna'' is a 2008 AmericanItalian epic war film directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's 2003 novel of the same name. The film stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfra ...

'' (musician: piano) * 2010 ''

Just Wright ''Just Wright'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Sanaa Hamri, starring Queen Latifah and Common. The film tells the story of a physical therapist, Leslie Wright, who falls in love with a professional basketball player, Scott Mc ...

''(writer: "H.U.G.S") * 2012 ''

'' (musician - uncredited) * 2013 '' Treme'' Season 4 , Episode 2 (writer: "Pet Steps Sitters Theme Song") * 2014 ''

Black or White "Black or White" is a single by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 11, 1991, as the first single from Jackson's eighth studio album, ''Dangerous'' (1991). Jackson wrote, composed, and produced it w ...

'' (musician: piano) * 2015 ''

Chi-Raq ''Chi-Raq'' () is a 2015 American musical crime comedy drama film, directed and produced by Spike Lee and co-written by Lee and Kevin Willmott. Set in Chicago, the film focuses on the gang violence prevalent in neighborhoods on the city's sou ...

'' (musician: piano)

Actor

* 2010 ''

'' * 2013 '' Treme'' Season 4 , Episode 2

References

External links

Official Fabian Almazan Website

Fabian Almazan Trio With String Quartet In Concert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almazan, Fabian 1984 births 21st-century pianists Cuban film score composers Cuban jazz pianists Living people Male film score composers Manhattan School of Music alumni 21st-century male musicians Cuban emigrants to the United States Palmetto Records artists ArtistShare artists