Emilio Solla

Latin Grammy winner and multi-Grammy nominee, Argentine-born and New York-based pianist and composer Emilio Solla’s first band, Apertura, (1983-1989) was praised by Astor Piazzolla as one of the most interesting new sounds in the Buenos Aires scene in 1986. Today, with eleven CDs as bandleader and more than forty as arranger/producer, he is regarded by peers and critics as one of the most outstanding and unique composers in the Tango-Jazz field, a musical language which blends Argentine tango and folk with jazz and other contemporary music styles. He has performed all around Europe, Japan, the US and Latin America to rave reviews in many of the most important jazz houses and festivals, such as Bim Huis, Lincoln Center, Marciac, Blue Note, Fasching and more.

Solla moved to New York in 2006, and since then he has composed for, recorded and toured with Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, Edmar Castañeda, Cristina Pato and many others jazz and classical music greats, besides performing regularly with his different projects at the Jazz Standard, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Birdland. Former members of his bands include jazz stars Donny McCaslin, Omer Avital, Jorge Rossy, Jeff Ballard and more.

He continues to tour Europe and the US while working as a free-lance arranger and pianist in different projects in NY. His NY based quintet Bien Sur! released its first CD in 2010 with special guest Billy Hart. This album was included in the Best of 2010 list by Downbeat Magazine. Since November 2010, he is leading a nine piece orchestra, La Inestable de Brooklyn, featuring some of the strongest jazz players in NYC. Their first CD, Second Half (2015) was Nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Latin Jazz Album. In November 2014 Solla’s first symphonic work had its World Premiere at the Palau de la Musica, during the Barcelona Jazz Festival and its US Premier at the Chicago Symphony Hall. 2017 took him back to Buenos Aires for the Premiere of the symphonic version of his Suite Piazzollana. In 2018, he started composing for a new project, the Tango Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece big band, taking his blend of Latin American sounds and jazz to a whole new level of accomplishment. This orchestra released its first album, “Puertos” on August 28, 2019. This album won the Latin Grammy 2020 for Best Jazz Album and one of Solla’s compositions, La Novena, was awarded a Grammy Nomination in 2019 as Best Instrumental Arrangement.

Emilio Solla and La Inestable de Brooklyn: Handmade

Read "Handmade" reviewed by Joshua Weiner

by Joshua Weiner
July 15, 2026

As the power of artificial intelligence (AI) grows exponentially, it has begun to permeate even the highest expressions of our humanity. AI-generated art of many kinds--literary, visual, and musical--appears on screens large and small daily. Handmade, a gorgeous double album by New York-based Argentinian pianist and composer Emilio Solla, featuring his nonet Inestable de Brooklyn, seeks to build a bridge across this uncanny valley." Handmade is an apologia of the tactile," says GRAMMY-nominated Solla. “We are moving further away from ...

Inside the Songs

Emilio Solla y La Inestable de Brooklyn: Handmade

by Dean Nardi
July 7, 2026

Emilio Solla has a mischievous, playful side that often manifests itself in his music. For example, his album, Handmade (Club del Disco, 2025) was recorded with a nonet, La Inestable de Brooklyn. What does the unstable (or the instability) in the orchestra's name refer to? The compositions? The playing? Or the fact that Solla uses all different players except for Tim Armacost from the previous record (Second Half) with this configuration more than 10 years ago on the Ficha Tecnica ...

Radio & Podcasts

Roy Hargrove, Monika Herzig, Sharon Minemoto & Emilio Solla

by Joe Dimino
May 31, 2026

As Neon Jazz reaches the landmark 960th Episode, we open the hour with the unmistakable brilliance of celebrated Latin jazz master Emilio Solla and music from his vibrant 2026 release Handmade. From there, the journey unfolds through a rich landscape of fresh jazz sounds featuring acclaimed artists Sharon Minemoto, Jim Robitaille, Virginia MacDonald, and Ryan Keberle, each bringing their own unique flavor and fire to the mix. Along the way, we pull back the curtain on the creative spirit behind ...

Radio & Podcasts

Emilio Solla: Keeping the Human Connection

by David Bixler
March 16, 2026

In a world that is increasingly anchored by AI and social media, pianist and composer Emilio Solla champions the human connection on his new recording Handmade, with his nonet, La Inestable de Brooklyn. Swimming in his imagination are jazz, tango, classical, and other Argentinian folkloric music, which all cohesively co-exist in this exciting musical offering. This episode features music from Handmade by Emilio Solla. ...

Interview

Emilio Solla: Uncovering Music Already There

by Dean Nardi
February 26, 2025

In the '40s, the jazz scene was dominated by bebop with its roots in swing music, formerly the purview of the big band era. Trios and quartets became the combo of choice for players such as Charlie Yardbird" Parker and Thelonious Monk, who took the harmonies of the old jazz and superimposed them on chord substitutions, resulting in complicated improvisations. Gradually as the 21st century unfolded, a new generation of big band proponents have brought back the tradition ...

Interview

Emilio Solla: The Chemistry of Music

by Jane Kozhevnikova
July 13, 2022

Emilio Solla is an Argentinian, New York-based pianist and composer who mixes classical, jazz, and tango idioms. He has received two Grammy nominations and won a Latin Grammy Award for Puertos: Music From International Waters (Avantango Records, 2019). He has recorded eleven albums as a bandleader and more than forty music projects in different capacities. Solla has performed all around the globe. After moving to New York in 2006, he has composed for, recorded, and toured ...

Album Review

Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Orchestra: Puertos: Music From International Waters

Read "Puertos: Music From International Waters" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 10, 2019

Tango music was born in the late nineteenth century in the ports along the shore of the Rio de la Plata which flows to the ocean along the border between Argentina and Uruguay. A sound of the poorer locales, it was a melting-pot music, drawing from European, Native American, Spanish-Cuban, African and Argentinian folk music influences. The very early twentieth century saw a “tango craze," with this working class music bubbling up out of the slums to gain respectability in ...

Performance / Tour

Emilio Solla & the Tango Jazz Conspiracy at The Painted Bride Arts Center on February 5

Source: Michael Ricci
January 26, 2011

Got tango? The single most essential figure in the history of tango, Argentina's greatest world music export—bandoneon-composer Astor Piazolla—would approve of your decision to take passage alongside Emilio Solla. Considered one of the foremost tango jazz pianists in the business today, Solla delivers earthy folkloric tango styling arranged within a modern jazz structure. Expect minor key tonality, acoustic instrumentation, catchy hooks, and sweeping accordion improvisations.

Pianist-composer Emilio Solla leads his New York-based quintet to debut its freshman recording Bien Sur ...
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Radio

The Jazz Session #179: Emilio Solla

Source: Michael Ricci
June 21, 2010

Argentinian pianist Emilio Solla calls his band The Tango Jazz Conspiracy, but that's about the only genre label you'll find him using for his music and he's not even sure what “tango jazz" really means. On his album Bien Sur! (Fresh Sound, 2010), Solla is joined by A-list musicians such as Chris Cheek, Richie Barshay, Victor Prieto and Jorge Roeder. In this interview, Solla talks about his early years in Argentina and his subsequent move to Spain; how Astor Piazzolla ...
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Recording

Pianist/Composer Emilio Solla Releases New CD with His Ensemble "The Tango Jazz Conspiracy" Titled Bien Sur!

Source: Two for the Show Media
January 20, 2010

The New York based Argentinean pianist, composer & arranger Emilio Solla brings in 2010 with an unparalleled recording that demonstrates the pure musical mastery of this artist on the rise. Bien Sur!--his sixth CD as a leader, was completed in the summer of 2009 with his ensemble, The Tango Jazz Conspiracy. The recording date includes special guest drum legend Billy Hart, saxophonist Chris Cheek, Jorge Roeder on bass and the great Richie Barshay on drums. The music Solla introduces on ...
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Performance / Tour

Emilio Solla & the Tango Jazz Conspiracy Live at the Jazz Standard

Source: Two for the Show Media
January 6, 2010

Pianist/Composer & Bandleader Emilio Solla will be performing with his group The Tango Jazz Conspiracy at The Jazz Standard in New York City on Tuesday February 9th, 2010 - Set Times are 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM. This performance is in celebration of Emilio Solla's new CD release titled Bien Sur! on Fresh Sound World Jazz. Emilio Solla & The Tango Jazz Conspiracy Emilio Solla - piano Chris Cheek - saxophones Victor Prieto - ...
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Performance / Tour

Emilio Solla & the NY Jazz-Tango Group (Fri) Leonardo Cioglia Group (Sat) Jack Hardy in Concert (Sun) This Weekend at Cornelia Street Cafe

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
July 13, 2007

CORNELIA STREET CAFE 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York212-989-9319 between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St. This Weekend At Cornelia Street Cafe Fri Jul 13 9:00PM & 10:30PM EMILIO SOLLA & THE NY JAZZ-TANGO GROUP (Emilio Solla, piano & composition;Paplo Aslan, bass;Franco Pinna, drums;VIctor Pietro, accordion) “The animated Solla summoned forth ...
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Performance / Tour

Cliff Korman Qt (Tonight) Emilio Solla & NY Jazz-Tango (Sat) Heather Bennett Qnt (Sun) at the Cornelia Street Cafe

Source: All About Jazz
September 16, 2005

Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street Greenwich Village, NY 10014 Tel: 212-989-9319 Fax: 212-243-4207 Web: corneliastreetcafe.com between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1,9 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, F to West 4th St. “a culinary as well as a cultural landmark" Mayoral Proclamation, City of New York 1987 This Weekend at Cornelia Street Cafe Sept. 16 thg Sept. 18 Fri Sep 16 CLIFF KORMAN QUARTET (Billy Drewes, woodwinds; AndyEulau, bass; Vanderlei Pereira, drums/percussion; Cliff ...
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"Music of such beauty that it transcends boundaries of style to become an instant classic. Sentido is simply one of the best jazz albums of the year" (All About Jazz NY, 2005) “****” Four Stars. (Downbeat, August 2010 issue) “The combination and balance between Tango and Jazz is perfect. I would have given this record a Grammy Award without thinking it twice” Paquito D’Rivera, about record “Suite Piazzollana”