
Born and raised in Cuba, pianist and composer David Virelles grew up in a musical environment. His father was a renowned singer, songwriter, and his mother was a flutist in the Santiago de Cuba Symphony. Virelles studied classical music at seven and discovered his grandfather’s jazz collection.
In 2001, he relocated to Canada as a protégé of Canadian musician Jane Bunnett, with whom he toured and recorded several Grammy-nominated) albums with.
Also, he studied privately with pianist Barry Harris and composition with the influential composer Henry Threadgill, whose vision profoundly affected Virelles.
To date, Virelles has performed and recorded with: Ravi Coltrane, Tomasz Stanko, Dewey Redman, Steve Coleman, and Five Elements, Sam Rivers, Andrew Cyrille, Hermeto Pascoal, José Luis Quintana “Changuito,” Stanley Cowell, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, Mark Turner, Paul Motian, Chris Potter, David Binney, Jane Bunnett and “Spirits of Havana,” Miguel Zenón, Cuban visual artist Alberto Lescay, Jon Hendricks, Wadada Leo Smith, Milford Graves, among others.
In 2003, Virelles became the first recipient of the Oscar Peterson Prize. His debut album titled “Motion” was released in 2007 on the record label Justin Time. Virelles also received the Grand Prix de Jazz Award at the Montréal Jazz Festival.
Virelles’s album “Continuum” featured bassist Ben Street, legendary drummer Andrew Cyrille, and percussionist Román Díaz garnered worldwide critical success and was selected as one of the best recordings of the year by the New York Times in 2012.
More recently, Virelles released “Mbókò – Sacred Music for Piano, Two Basses, Drum Set and Biankoméko Abakuá,” featuring drummer Marcus Gilmore, bassists Thomas Morgan and Robert Hurst, and Román Díaz. The music draws inspiration from the Carabalí culture and the Abakuá society and continues the conversation that began with “Continuum.”
IN CONVERSATION
