Diego Urcola Quartet

DIEGO URCOLA Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1965. Urcola’s began studying music at the age of nine at the Music Department at Colegio Ward. Concentrating on trumpet, he later became “Profesor Nacional de Música” at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, then moved to the USA to attend the Berklee College of Music, after which he settled in New York City. He shared his time, playing professionally and studying for his master’s degree at CUNY/City College-Queens. Among musicians with whom Urcola has worked are Paquito D’Rivera (in whose quintet he played from 1991), Jimmy Heath (his advisor at CUNY), and Conrad Herwig, all of whom appear as guests on 2006’s Viva. Others include Claudia Acuña, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Avishai Cohen, Slide Hampton, Joe Henderson, Milt Jackson, Guillermo Klein, Danilo Pérez, Juan ‘Pollo’ Raffo, Guillermo Romero, Antonio Sanchez, Pernell Saturnino, Edward Simon, and Steve Turre. Bands with which Urcola has worked include the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All Star Big Band, directed by Jon Faddis, the Calle 54 All Star Band and he has been a member of David Samuels’ Caribbean Jazz Project. Included in Urcola’s repertoire are his own compositions, ‘Clara’, ‘Dancing In The Closet’, ‘Buenos Aires’, ‘Super Mario’, ‘Samba Para Claudio’ and ‘Blues For Astor’. Striking features of Urcola’s playing are his direct and passionate approach and his creamily warm sound. His Soundances (2003) and Viva were both nominated for Grammy Awards.