Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Javier Madrazo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Javier, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of my most meaningful projects was recording my second album “Caminos”. I had already recorded my first album “Interior” and I had 1 year to record release and tour that album in Argentina before moving to New York to pursue my Master in Jazz Performance at Queens College. I remember having to finish a lot of tunes during the one rehersal we had before recording the music and doing the final writting the day of the recording. It was an exciting and formative experience and I really liked what came out of that album. Also, I am always composing and arranging so this process is always continuing and I am looking foward to recording my third album!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the 28 of April 1996.I am a composer, arranger, and guitar player. I started playing the guitar at 10 years old and at 13 years old I was already investes in studying jazz by discovering the amazing Wes Montgomery and his work. I graduated from the prestigious Manuel de Falla conservatory (Argentina) where I got my Bachelor in jazz and recently completed my Master’s program at Queens College (New York) this past May, were I was the first non-american jazz composer to receive ASCAP’s “Louis Armstrong” award for my compositions and arrangements. I also traveled
frequently to New York to receive instruction from Barry Harris, Cyrus Chestnut, Mike Moreno, Carl Allen, Yotam Silberstein and Pasquale Grasso. I became first an experienced sideman and playing for notable figures in the Buenos Aires jazz scene such as Mariano Loiácono, Julia Moscardini, Julieta Iricibar, Sebastián Loiácono, Malena Rampi and many others, at historic venues such as Thelonious Club, Virasoro
Bar, and the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival. After that in 2021 I released my first album “Interior” alongside renowned Argentine musicians, and less than a year later, I released my second album “Caminos”, full of original songs. Both of these albums were acclaimed by the press, receiving positive reviews in Pagina 12, Revista Brando and interviews with notable figures such as Victor Hugo Morales and Adrian Puente, among others, culminating in a headline slot at the MAGNA jazz festival in La Pampa.
Currently, I am residing in New York playing in venues around town as a side man and as a leader and also making plans for my third record.

Something that sets me apart is that I do is arrange compose and perform in a wide variety of styles. From Jazz, Brazilian music to Groove, Pop and R&B. My music is also influenced by this variety of styles and my recorded work is always thought in a variety of styles while at the same time retaining cohesiveness and a story telling. I feel something unique about me is that I have my own musical language that comes from studying in depth harmony and a lot of music that I like. So in other words, I feel my music has an distinctive perspective and a strong and clear direction due to all the study and introspection that I did through my musical journey.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is shearing the music, in the bansdstand with the other musicians and with the audience also. The social aspect of music and especially of imrpovised music as jazz is totally related to life and relationships. You have to be able to listen and react or not but remain aware of what is happening. Also reading the room to see how you can choose the best repertoire and how to play it. It is all conected to human energy that is totally instictive and I feel that thats art at its higher point, a gut reaction that can move people.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I had to learn is that suffering is not a biproduct of hardwork but a choice in perspective.

Back when I around 17 years old I burdened my self with heavily regimented studying routine. This came from a lot of self-loading about my playing. I was getting up at 5 am to walk the dog while I took my guitar and studied ear training exercises and my whole day was scheduled to the minute. This got so bad that at a point I remember that I skipped my two best friends birthday party because I had to study in the morning.

At a certain point the inevitable hapoened and I falled in my first depresion. It was a time of a lot of inner search and rethinking my priorities in this short phisical existence that we call life. I discovered meditation and started reading eastern philosophy books the kybaleon and authors like Krishnamurti. Then I read what was an eye opening book for me titled “A course in Miracles”. This book helped me realize that I was choosing suffering and realising that my first priority is to know myself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javiermadrazo96?igsh=MXgxZnZ2ejJ6OXlqZQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/javi.madrazo?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mrjavier543?si=5RPAwtycT8ScXU1k
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zWvCehtXsPW3MoLwvq4sP?si=CcqLW1NeQlizfH1sk8Xf2g

Image Credits

Photos by Federico Rattenbach