Our current Spotlight Artist Darwin Noguera brings a healthy dose of exuberance, insightful musicality, and skilled composition to his recording with the Evolution Quintet, The Gardener. Noguera plays with the elegance and finesse of an experienced jazz pianist, spinning defined melodies that cut through the groove with an aggressive momentum while maintaining a lyrical sensibility. His rich harmonic palette drives his compositions, as he consistently writes with a colorful set of chords and a creative application of textures. He explores a variety of Latin influences, taking his music through Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, and more; Noguera stays true to each genre that he visits, delivering inventive jazz twists on each rhythm. At the same time, Noguera stays closely connected to the traditional jazz world, integrating swing and ballad contexts liberally. He builds an engaging musical statement throughout the album, sharing each side of his artistic personality in a unified presentation that just glows with character. In addition to the fine music found on The Gardener, Noguera co-leads The Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble with trumpet player Victor Garcia, providing some incredible big band Latin Jazz for the Windy City. Noguera’s sense of dedication to the art form and his sincere passion for performance shine through each project,

Noguera’s presents an engaging musical personality that needs to be heard, and fortunately there’s plenty of places online to get a little bit closer to the man and his music. You can find Noguera on MySpace, where you can get additional info, listen to some music, find live performance dates, watch some video, and more. If you’d like to make a more personal connection with Noguera, become his Facebook friend HERE or become a fan to get all the latest news and updates HERE. If you’d like to hear Noguera’s story firsthand, The Jazz Institute of Chicago created a podcast interview with the pianist in 2007 that you can find archived on their site HERE. Maybe you’re looking to take the experience one step further, watching as well as listening - you’ll want to head directly to Noguera’s YouTube page and take a look at his videos. If you’re looking to pick up Noguera’s CD, The Gardener, you can find it two places online - you can buy it directly from The Chicago Sessions record label HERE or you can head directly to Noguera’s CDBaby page. There’s also plenty of information about Noguera’s big band, The Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble; a good place to start would be their website.

Take the time to check out Noguera’s work both as a solo artist and as co-leader of the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble; he’s a talented pianist and a composer with a distinct voice that offers a rich musical experience. Check out the links that I mentioned earlier, but then take the dive and pick up The Gardener - there’s a wealth of exciting new Latin Jazz worth hearing. I’ve included a bio for Noguera as well as some information about the CALJE so that you can get the full picture. Once you check out all of that, you can watch the video of a trio version of Noguera’s group performing a piece from The Gardener, “Señor Del Poso.” Enjoy!

Darwin Noguera
Pianist, composer, and arranger Darwin Noguera was born in Managua, Nicaragua. He and his family emigrated to the U.S. when he was 5 in the midst of a Civil War. He started playing piano when he was 10 and debuted with the North Miami Beach Symphony Orchestra at the age of 14. After graduating from DePaul with a degree in Music Business, he has been active as a Jazz Artist in the Chicago music scene. He is the founder of the premiere Latin Big band in the Midwest, the “Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble”. He has performed with artists such as: Legendary Ira Sullivan, Andy Gonzalez, Ray Vega, Bobby Sanabria, Emilio Valdes, Charles Heath, Manny Oquendo & Libre, Ismael Miranda, and Kim McFarland.

Darwin and his groups have performed at venues such as the Chicago Symphony Center, featured artist at the Chicago Music Awards, Green Dolphin Street, Hothouse-Center for International Performance and Exhibition, Grant Park, Jazz Institute of Chicago, WGN TV 9, Chicago Tonight Show, Live performance at Chicago Public Radio, Viva Chicago, DePaul University Theatre School, and the Chicago Latin Jazz Festival among others. Private clients include Petsmart, Mayor Daley, Governor Rob Blagojevich, McDonald’s, Korean Times Chicago, Citibank, Spank Music, Volkswagen of America and many more.

Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble
CALJE (The Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble) was formed in efforts to fuse the musical treasures of Afro-Latin American music and Jazz. Staying true to the Latin musical traditions, this group blends colors from all over the world. The band has a strong foundation in Afro-Cuban Jazz, Brazilian, and Jazz Fusion which then blends it with Flamenco, Central American and Peruvian folk rhythms.

CALJE is considered “the premier Latin Jazz group in the Midwest”, performing in some of the finest halls in the Midwest, highlighting many luminaries of Chicago, who are highly acclaimed by many club promoters, musicians, bands and cultural institutions. With its culturally diverse background, the band is deeply committed to the evolution of music and the preservation of Latin music. Artists in the band have had the opportunity to share the stage with legendary artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Chick Corea, The Temptations,PaquitoD’Rivera and Danilo Perez, among others.

CALJE made its debut by kicking off the notorious Midwest “Jazz en Clave” Latin Jazz Festival at Chicago’s HotHouse Center, alongside the Grammy Award Nominated drummer Dafnis Prieto’s Quintet, Jane Bunnet and virtuoso violinist Alfredo de la Fe.

Founded by Mexican born trumpeter/composer Victor Garcia, and Nicaraguan born pianist/composer Darwin Alejandro Noguera, these long-time musical collaborators envisioned an endeavour for Chicago that would follow in the innovative footsteps of the pioneering Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra, Irakere and the Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Lincoln Center.

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Darwin Noguera’s Evolution Trio Performing “Señor Del Pozo”

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Check Out These Related Posts:
Weekly Latin Jazz Video Fix: Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble
Supporting A Growing Latin Jazz Scene: The Jazz Institute of Chicago
Latin Jazz Report Card: 31st Annual Chicago Jazz Festival
Spotlight: Salsa n’ Jazz, Samuel Quinto Trio

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