Alfredo Rodriguez

Alfredo Rodríguez (born October 7, 1985) is a Cuban composer and Cuban Jazz Pianist. He was trained at Manuel Saumell Conservatory, then at the Amadeo Roldan Music Conservatory as well as the Instituto Superior de Arte.

Life
In 2006, Alfredo was selected as one of the twelve pianists from around the world to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Music Producer Quincy Jones noticed Alfredo at the Jazz Festival due to his talent and began working with him. In 2009, Alfredo left his family and country and began his pursuit of a career in music in the United States.

Alfredo has as extensive touring history for a young pianist his age. He has performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival, SXSWMusic Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Jazz Roots Performing Arts Center Concert Series, XVI International Open Air Festival (Poland), Jazz a Vienne Festival (France), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Mawazine Festival(Morocco), Mundo Latino Festival (Brazil), Shanghai International Film Festival (China), Shanghai Tourist Festival (China), as well as many other performances. Alfredo has also been chosen by various brands such as Mercedes Benz and Louis Vuitton to perform at corporate functions and product launches. During this period of time, Alfredo has shared stages with many famous Jazz artists such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin, James Ingram, McCoy Tyner, Esperanza Spalding, Richard Bona, Lionel Loueke, as well as many others.

One of Alfredo's most well known composition was accomplished through collaboration with Quincy Jones, Tan Dun, and Siedah Garrett; the anthem "Better City, Better Life." was selected as the official theme song of the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Alfredo's Debut Album produced by Quincy Jones and himself "Sounds of Space" has been released on Qwest/Mack Avenue Records in 2012. Alfredo is currently recording his second album, produced by Quincy Jones.

Press
1. Los Angeles Times — Reed Johnson ⋅ October 3, 2009 Excerpt: “Now, Rodriguez’s grace under pressure and talent for finding emotional truth in the split-second fall of a piano key has brought him to the verge of an improbable success story. The musician, who turns 24 on Wednesday, will be performing today at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the “¡Bienvenido Gustavo!” concert celebrating Gustavo Dudamel’s arrival as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new music director…[Alfredo] is recording a debut album with Quincy Jones, the Grammy Award-winning composer, producer and musician who discovered Rodriguez at the Montreux Jazz Festival and has become his mentor, teacher and, Rodriguez says, “like a new father” to him… Since moving stateside, Rodriguez has been receiving loud ovations and praise from fellow professionals at such venues as the Monterey and Playboy jazz festivals. Jones says that when he first heard Rodriguez play three years ago “it knocked me on my booty, man!”…Some Los Angeles musical insiders, including Josh Groban and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, got a preview of Rodriguez’s talents during a showcase a couple of months ago at the Vibrato Grill Jazz. In his brief set, Rodriguez demonstrated his elegant yet explosive technique and command of an array of musical idioms.”

2. The Jazz Observer — Forrest Dylan Bryant ⋅ September 20, 2009 Excerpt: “From the start of his late afternoon set at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Garden Stage, Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez made it clear that his was music for serious listening…It’s not easy to silence the outdoor Garden Stage crowd, but a hush fell over the ground within minutes, and for the next hour the quiet was broken only by enthusiastic applause… and the occasional airplane. It’s still Monterey, after all.”

3. Jazz Police — Andrea Canter ⋅ September 13, 2009 Excerpt: “”Alfredo Rodriguez, for me (and I suspect many others) the most pleasant surprise of the festival…Unlike any Cuban pianist I have heard, Rodriguez-the only artist I saw at the festival to perform solo- seemed more a melding of Bill Evans, Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch, even touches of Thelonious Monk in conception if not execution, hints here and there of his Cuban heritage… if Chopin had spent time in Havana. His rendition of “Body and Soul” was the most stirring keyboard version I can remember, and he arranged the unlikely nursery rhyme, “Frère Jacques,” as if always intended to be a beautiful jazz ballad. Technical brilliance tempered by touch and eloquent voicings, never bombastic, Alfredo Rodriguez hopefully will soon be playing in a club near you… and me.”

4. MLive.com — Meegan Holland ⋅ September 6, 2009 Excerpt: “When Alfredo Rodriguez ended his solo piano set Sunday afternoon at the Detroit Jazz Fest, many in the audience were pretty sure they had just witnessed genius in bloom… This is how good he is. After jolting the audience at the beginning of his show, by the end we were leaning in, cocking our ears so as not to miss a note. As he played a quiet stanza, noise bled from a nearby stage, and we were reminded that, oh yeah, there’s a jazz festival going on. Alfredo had sucked us in to his world.”

5. International Review of Music — Don Heckman ⋅ August 13, 2009 Excerpt: “It’s hard, in fact, to think of a jazz pianist since Art Tatum so capable of reaching across the complete range of the instrument’s expressive potential. In one tune, his crisp bebop lines recalled Bill Evans’ early playing on the George Russell mid-fifties Jazz Workshop album Other pieces suggested the melodic inventiveness of Keith Jarrett. And still others displayed a nascent style of his own, contrasting angular, leaping passages and thick harmonic clusters with sudden, unexpected arcs of lyricism.”

6. The Providence Journal — Rick Massimo ⋅ August 11, 2009 Excerpt: “Solo pianist Alfredo Rodriguez was mesmerizing on the third stage, with long improvisations in the style of his hero, Keith Jarrett, on Cuban and American standards as well as originals.”

7. All About Jazz — Giovanni Russonello ⋅ July 28, 2009 Excerpt: “Alfredo Rodriguez is fond of saying that music has been his life since he was very young. The thing is, he’s still very young. But the story of this 23-year-old pianist’s daring defection from Cuba, his uncanny virtuosity-enough to pique the interest of Quincy Jones-and his all-hands-on-deck enthusiasm at the keyboard indicate that music will be his fiber for as long as his fingers can find their way to the ivory. At his New York City debut on July 28, a sold-out gig at the Jazz Standard, Rodriguez’ trio was keyed-in and chaotic, masterfully effortless at times and full of giddy growing pains at others. All in all, the performance was breathtaking-and a study in contrasts.”

8. The New York Times — Nate Chinen ⋅ July 23, 2009 Excerpt: “[Alfredo's] playing, proficient and soulful, projects a spirited, youthful charm.”

9. International Review of Music — Don Heckman ⋅ June 16, 2009 Excerpt: “Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, discovered by Quincy Jones, is an astonishing talent. At 23, he revealed the same sort of technical virtuosity that has been present in other jazz pianists trained within the arts structures of socialist societies. But what he has done with that technique is uniquely his own. Performing a set of mostly original material, he called up images of a youthful Art Tatum, leavened with an off-center, Thelonious Monk point of view, spiced with the surging rhythmic passions of his homeland. Rodriguez’s version of “Body and Soul” can only be described as memorable – a brilliant rediscovery of a piece that seemed, long ago, to have given up all its riches.”

10. The OC Register — Martin Wisckol ⋅ June 15, 2009 Excerpt: “Cuban piano phenom…showed the future of jazz is in good hands.”

11. La Opinión — Martha Sarabia ⋅ June 9, 2009 Excerpt: Quincy Jones (as taken from an interview for the article): “I saw (Alfredo Rodriguez) for the first time in Switzerland when he was 20 years old, three years ago. I couldn’t believe he was playing as well as he was. And you never forget when somebody plays that well. He is very special and I do not say that easily because been I have been surrounded by the best musicians in the world my entire life and he is one of the best.”

12. Savvant Music — Anny Randel ⋅ March 23, 2009 Excerpt: ” …a pianist so intense, so beautiful and so emotive you never, ever want the music to stop…amazing improvisational skills and beautiful artistic soul. Part of Rodriguez’ genius is his ability to be so playful and simple interspersed with moments of exquisite emotional intensity. He takes a melody and weaves it in and out of harmony and discord while maintaining the pure integrity of the melody and the feel of the song.”