Harold López-Nussa
Cuba's Harold López-Nussa is a gifted pianist whose immense skills have found him combining sophisticated post-bop jazz with Cuban and Afro-Latin traditions. A winner of the 2005 solo piano contest at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival, López-Nussa garnered attention for his albums like 2007's Canciones and 2013's New Day. Along with collaborations with Christian Scott, Gilles Peterson, and Alune Wade, he has continued to release his own dynamic albums, including his 2018 trio date Un Dia Cualquiera and 2020 quartet session Te Lo Dije. Following a tour in 2021, he left Cuba for France in 2022 and signed with Blue Note. He issued his label debut Timba a la Americana in August 2023.
Born Harold López-Nussa Torres in Havana in 1983, López-Nussa was raised in a musical family with parents who were both musicians. His uncle, Ernán Lopez-Nussa, is also a pianist of note. From age eight, he studied classical piano, first at the Manuel Saumell Elementary School of Music and the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, and he later graduated from the Instituto Superior de Artes. Around age 18 he discovered jazz, a passion that would remain his main creative focus.
After leaving school, López-Nussa gained early notice touring with vocalist Omara Portuondo and recording Heitor Villa-Lobos' Fourth Piano Concerto with Cuba's National Symphony Orchestra in 2003. In 2005, his profile was raised even higher after he won the First Prize and Audience Prize of the Jazz Solo Piano Competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He also appeared on albums by such diverse artists as guitarist Leo Brouwer, Gilles Peterson, and the jazz supergroup Ninety Miles, alongside vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Christian Scott, and tenor saxophonist David Sánchez. In 2007, he made his solo debut with Canciones. Two years later, he returned with Herencia, followed by 2011's El Pais de las Maravillas and 2013's New Day.
In 2015, López-Nussa collaborated with Senegalese bassist/vocalist Alune Wade on the Afro-Latin album Havana - Paris - Dakar. The following year, he paired again with Wade for Viaje, a similarly Afro-Latin-leaning album that also featured his quartet with his brother, drummer Ruy Adrián López-Nussa, as well as guest appearances from his father, Ruy Francisco López-Nussa, trumpeter Mayquel González, and percussionists Dreiser Durruthy and Adel González. The trio album Un Dia Cualquiera arrived in 2018 and also featured his brother, as well as bassist Gaston Joya. In 2020, López-Nussa released Te Lo Dije, which again featured the pianist's quartet, along with guest appearances by Cuban reggaeton singer Randy Malcom, French accordionist Vincent Peirani, singer Kelvis Ochoa, and genre-bending Cuban funk artist Cimafunk.
Toward the middle of 2021, when the pandemic's restrictions had lightened considerably, López-Nussa took his band on the road and toured again, playing festivals. He emigrated from Cuba to France in 2022 and signed with Blue Note. In 2023, he entered the studio with producer Michael League (composer, producer, and bassist with Snarky Puppy) to record Timba a la Americana. The set offered ten unrecorded compositions played by a quartet that included harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret, bassist Luques Curtis, conguero Bárbaro "Machito" Crespo on congas, and brother Ruy Adrián López-Nussa on drums.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Un Día Cualquiera
Latin America - Released by Mack Avenue Records on 24 Oct 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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El Viaje
Jazz - Released by Mack Avenue Records on 9 Sep 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Herencia
Latin Jazz - Released by World Village France on 22 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cuando Esto Pase
Harold López-Nussa, Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa, William Roblejo
Latin America - Released by Bis Music on 6 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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El Pais de las Maravillas
Latin Jazz - Released by world village on 28 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los 3 Mosqueteros
William Roblejo, Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa, Harold López-Nussa
Latin America - Released by Bis Music on 20 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Canciones
Latin America - Released by Producciones Colibrí on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Carrousel
El Comité, Harold López-Nussa, Rolando Luna
Jazz - Released by Virgin Music FR LAS (S&D) on 25 Apr 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elegua
Electronic - Released by Nettwerk Music Group on 1 Jul 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tinajones
El Comité, Rolando Luna, Harold López-Nussa
Jazz - Released by Virgin Music FR LAS (S&D) on 28 Mar 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Timba a la Americana
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on 25 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los 3 Mosqueteros
Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa, Harold López-Nussa, William Roblejo
Latin America - Released by Bis Music on 22 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tinajones
El Comité, Rolando Luna, Harold López-Nussa
Jazz - Released by Virgin Music FR LAS (S&D) on 28 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carrousel
El Comité, Harold López-Nussa, Rolando Luna
Jazz - Released by Virgin Music FR LAS (S&D) on 25 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sueño Interrumpido
William Roblejo, Harold López-Nussa, Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa
Latin America - Released by Bis Music on 29 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo