Eva Novoa

Eva Novoa is a New York-based jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader from Spain. Her playing style emerges from jazz's vanguard tradition; it relies on through-composed architectures melding post-bop, modal, modern classical music, Middle Eastern and Spanish folk traditions to extended improvisation. Fresh Sound New Talent issued 2012's Eva Novoa Trio and 2014's Eva Novoa Quartet. She remained with the label after emigrating to New York and formed Ditmas Quartet with saxophonist Michaël Attias, bassist Max Johnson, and drummer Jeff Davis. Their globally acclaimed studio debut, Butterflies and Zebras, appeared in 2016, followed by Live at I-Beam two years later. 2020's Satellite Quartet showcased her with guitarist Rainer Davies, bassist Kenneth Jimenez, and drummer Arturo Garcia. Novoa signed with 577 Records in late 2022. In June 2023, the label released Novoa/Kamaguchi/Cleaver Trio, Vol. 1, with bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Novoa was born in Barcelona, Spain. She began her piano studies at age five, and studied jazz at ESMUC (Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya). She made her first trip to New York in 2005 to attend workshops at trumpeter/composer Ralph Alessi's School for Improvisational Music. Later that year she emigrated to the Netherlands to attend Koninklijk Conservatorium. She received a Bachelor in Jazz Piano and a Master in Jazz Composition, and was awarded a full scholarship from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In 2012, she served as a piano instructor in the school's jazz department. While in the Netherlands, she signed a recording contract with Barcelona-based Fresh Sound New Talent. The label issued her first leader dates: Eva Novoa Trio in 2012 (with bassist Masatoshi Kamaguchi and drummer Marc Lohr), and 2014's Eva Novoa Quartet in 2014 featuring Kamaguchi, alto saxophonist Ernesto Aurignac, and drummer Andre Sumelius. Novoa emigrated to Brooklyn, New York in 2013. She immediately began working the jazz club scene and sitting in with saxophonists Daniel Carter and Ingrid Laubrock, bassists Drew Gress and Matt Pavolka, saxophonist/drummer Oscar Noriega, and drummer Tom Rainey, to name a few. In 2015, she formed a new performing and recording ensemble, Ditmas Quartet, with alto saxophonist Michaël Attias, bassist Max Johnson, and drummer Jeff Davis. They issued Butterflies and Zebras for Fresh Sound New Talent in 2016. The album won laudatory critical reviews and radio airplay across Europe and Japan. They followed it with Live at I-Beam in 2018. During the COVID-19 quarantine, Novoa released Satellite Quartet in 2020 as her final offering for Fresh Sound New Talent. The music was drawn from a 2017 studio session cut with bassist Kenneth Jimenez, drummer Arturo Garcia, and guitarist Rainer Davies. Following several tours, Novoa signed with New York's 577 Records in late 2022. In June 2023, the trio released Novoa/Kamaguchi/Cleaver Trio, Vol. 1, featuring her early-2020s performing group with longtime bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Gerald Cleaver.
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