Lluc Casares

Biography

Before Juilliard, Lluc completed an undergraduate degree at ESMUC (Catalonia’s Music College) and a master’s degree at CvA (Conservatorium Van Amsterdam) where he received classes from the European legend Ferdinand Povel. During this time Lluc participated in a half-year exchange with Temple University (Philadelphia) where he studied with the great Dick Oatts.

He has released 4 albums as a leader; the last one, Ride (The Changes, 2023), recorded in Amsterdam featuring the master guitarist Jesse Van Ruller. Septet (The Changes, 2021) and Sketches Overseas (Outside In Music 2018) had been recorded in New York. Sketches Overseas won the Best Jazz Album of 2018 award by the Enderrock magazine in Spain. Red (Temps Records, 2015) was his first album as a leader. He has recorded more than 20 albums as a sideman, co-leads the Barcelona Art Orchestra and is a member of the bands Smack Dab or The Gramophone Allstars Big Band among others. He has played in some of the most important festivals in Europe such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Marciac Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, Baloise Session, and the Terrassa Jazz Festival among others. He has also played in clubs such as the Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola and Fat Cat in NYC, Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Jamboree in Barcelona and the Jazz at Lincoln Center in Shanghai. Throughout his career, Lluc has been fortunate to share the stage with such musicians as Dr. John, Nicholas Payton, Frank Wess, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Jon Faddis, Jesse Davis, Joe Farnsworth, Jesse Van Ruller, Arturo Sandoval, Wendell Brunious, Grant Stewart, Ben Van Gelder or Benjamin Herman among others.

With a group of like-minded musician friends, in 2019 he formed The Changes, a collective and record label aimed at launching new projects without the guidelines and limitations of external agents. In less than 4 years, The Changes released more than 20 publications.