Manuel Fraga

Considered to be one of Argentina’s best jazz pianists, since his first concert at 18 in 1976 Manuel has performed in many of the most prestigious venues, including the Colón Theater, Centro Cultural Gral. San Martín and Avenida Theater among others, as well as the Buenos Aires circuit of jazz clubs and all around the country.

   For many years (1976 to 1994) he was a member of the Fénix Jazz Band, one of the most famous New Orleans-style bands in Argentina. With the Fénix he performed every Saturday from 1978 to 1994 at one of the most traditional cafés in Buenos Aires,  the Café Tortoni.

  Manuel toured the United States and Canada nine times between 1984 and 1993, and played in many important jazz festivals there, such as the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee in California (where he received the award as the festival’s best pianist), Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival, Central City in Colorado, Connecticut Jazz Festival and jazz clubs in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Vancouver and Victoria in Canada.

   He has performed together with some of the most famous jazz musicians in Argentina, like Jorge Navarro, Walter and Javier Malosetti, Ricardo Lew, Gustavo Bergalli, Juan Cruz de Urquiza, Ricardo Cavalli and even with tango musicians, like bandoneón player Daniel Binelli, who played with Astor Piazzolla, in a project paying tribute to the music of Piazzolla and Miles Davis.

   Manuel also played with the Swingtimers quintet, replacing Jorge Navarro, and played in trio format with drummer Oscar Giunta and bassist Alfredo Remus between 2000 and 2009.

   He has his own trio, formed in 2005, with bassist and composer Jorge López Ruiz and drummer Germán Boco, and also performs as soloist.

   In his recording career many albums stand out, particularly 9 recordings with the Fenix Jazz Band, three as soloist (two recorded and published in the United States, “Querido Bill” (“Dear Bill”), dedicated to Bill Evans, and “Impromptu” (yet unreleased), with his present trio.

   Manuel comes from a family of musicians (and Tomás, one of his five children, is at 21 an established jazz guitarist), and carries out an important educational work as teacher and clinician in workshops and special courses of jazz piano, improvisation, harmony, jazz styles, etc..

   His own stylistic approach features a wide variety of styles and a more universal melodic concept, as a result of his deep knowledge of the different jazz forms, his “classical” training and his studies of harmony, form, composition and musical analysis with maestro Manolo Juárez.

   Together with the prize awarded in USA mentioned above, he also received the Prensario Prize in 1979 (“jazz newcomer”), the ACE Prize in 1993 (best jazz recording, with the Fenix Jazz Band) and the 1995 Kónex Prize, also as member of the Fénix Jazz Band.