HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA DUO & ALDO LÓPEZ-GAVILÁN, SOLO

As scion of an illustrious musical family, the 39-year-old Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa is one of the established masters on Havana’s thriving jazz scene, and an artist who has performed at the SFJAZZ Center numerous times since its opening. Son of drummer Ruy López-Nussa and nephew of pianist Ernan López-Nussa, Harold gained international attention when he won top honors at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Piano Competition in 2005.

While touring widely with the Buena Vista Social Club vocalist Omara Portuondo he launched his solo career with his younger brother, the phenomenal drummer Ruy Adrián López-Nussa, who joins the pianist on this double bill with virtuoso pianist Aldo López-Gavilán, who performs solo.

A fellow Havana native, López-Gavilán is an artist with his feet in two worlds, acclaimed for both his mastery of the Afro-Cuban jazz tradition as well as his stunning interpretations of the classical piano repertoire. A true prodigy born to a musical family, he began formal studies at seven, making his professional debut at 12 with Cuba’s Matanzas Symphony Orchestra and performing with the National Symphony of Cuba at 17. Since that auspicious start, López-Gavilán has toured the world and released 10 award-winning albums of original compositions with many of Cuba’s finest instrumentalists.