Diego Urcola

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the three-time Grammy nominee Diego Urcola has been a member of the Paquito D’Rivera Quintet since 1991 and the Caribbean Jazz Project, led by Dave Samuels, since 2004. Urcola also performs regularly with the Jimmy Heath Sextet and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All Star Big Band.In 1990, he received his diploma in Jazz Performance from Berklee College of Music. In 1997, he received his master’s degree in Jazz Performance from Queens College. Urcola won second place at the 1997 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition. Diego has toured with Slide Hampton and “The Jazz Masters”, as well as the United Nations Orchestra. He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Joe Henderson sextet, Steve Turre “Sanctified Shells”, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. In 1998 he performed with Wayne Shorter for a broadcast TV special “The 2nd Annual Celebration of America's Music”. In 2002, after his appearance with Paquito D'Rivera Quintet in Fernando Trueba's documentary "Calle 54", Urcola toured Europe, the United States and Latin America with Calle 54 All Star Band.Diego has recorded widely as a sideman for such artists as Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Samuels, Chano Dominguez, Bebo Valdes, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diane Schuur, Avishai Cohen, Guillermo Klein, Claudia Acuña, Danilo Perez, Edward Simon, and many others.