Ignasi Terraza

Ignasi Terraza

Ignasi Terraza (born 14 July 1962) is a Catalan jazz pianist. Blind from the age of 10, he currently leads his own jazz trio playing both standards and tunes composed by himself and the band members, Frenchmen Pierre Boussaguet on bass and Jean Pierre Derouard on drums. The trio has toured Spain, Portugal, France and Switzerland. Terraza was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With a degree in Computer Engineering, after three years dividing his time between his profession and music, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to jazz in 1983, accompanying vocalists such as Kalil Wilson, Charmin Michelle, Randy Greer, Michelle McCain, Lavelle or Stacey Kent, and jazz musicians Frank Wess, Jesse Davis, Gene "The Mighty Flea" Conners, Teddy Edwards, Ted Curson, Spike Robinson, Ralph Lalama or Brad Leali. Apart from the current line-up, his own trios and quartets have included bassists Mario Rossy, Javier Colina, Jules Bekoko and Horacio Fumero, among others, and Gregory Hutchinson, Walter Perkins, Bobby Durham, Peer Wyboris, Jo Krause, Esteve Pi or Julian Vaughn on drums. One particular association, divided into two stints (1985–1988 and 1996–2000) – was with vibraphonist and drummer Oriol Bordas, playing in trio/quartet formations and with the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra. From 1990 to 1993, he co-led, with US guitarist David Mitchell, the Mitchell-Terraza Quartet, winning the "best new group" award at the 1991 Festival Internacional de Jazz de Guetxo. Since 2003 he has also been teaching jazz piano at the Higher School of Music of Catalonia – Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya. Since 2006, his trio has accompanied singer Susana Sheiman at venues in both Madrid and Barcelona. Since 2006 he also featured in several public appearances of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, a Big Band founded by Joan Chamorro in Barcelona and formed by talented teenager multi-instrumentalists such as Andrea Motis, Rita Payés and many others. His 2009 recording, Plaça Vella (2009), with the Josep Maria Farràs & Ignasi Terraza Trio features two tracks with saxophonist Jesse Davis. In 2013, he premiered his Suit Miró at Washington's National Gallery of Art on the occasion of that museum's monographic exhibition on the Catalan artist Joan Miró and the following year performed the same suite at Madrid's Museo Reina Sofía on the occasion of International Museum Day.

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