In addition to being a solo artist, Almazan is the founder and director of
Biophilia Records and has held the piano chair in Jazz Trumpeter
Terence Blanchard's band since 2007. Fabian Almazan began studying classical piano at an early age in his homeland,
Havana. Having fled Cuba in political exile to
Miami,
Florida, his parents could not afford private piano lessons. Pianist Conchita Betancourt graciously taught Almazan free of charge for over three years, allowing him to audition for the
New World School of the Arts in
Miami,
Florida where he studied from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, Almazan was selected for the piano chair in the National Grammy High School Jazz Combo. Almazan later went on to win the piano chair for the
Brubeck Institute fellowship program based in northern
California where he studied with
Mark Levine and performed with
Dave Brubeck and
Christian McBride. In 2003, Almazan moved to
New York City, where he studied with
Kenny Barron at the
Manhattan School of Music. While pursuing his bachelor's degree, Almazan studied instrumentation and orchestration with Giampaolo Bracali. Under Bracali, Almazan composed pieces for orchestra and chamber ensembles. In 2009, Almazan received his master's degree from
Manhattan School of Music, as a recipient of the Michael W. Greene Scholarship, studying privately with
Jason Moran. Almazan received the Cintas Foundation 2010/11 Brandon Fradd Award in
Music Composition. Since 2007, Almazan has toured extensively with the
Terence Blanchard Quintet, of which he is a current member. Almazan is said to be "one of the great young talents of his generation” by Blanchard.
Personalities, Almazan's debut album as a leader, was released in October 2011 on Biophilia/
Palmetto Records, and featured
Linda Oh, Henry Cole,
Meg Okura, Megan Gould, Karen Waltuch, and Noah Hoffeld. Almazan "demonstrates intuitive control over Latin jazz repertoire and feeling" and his music is referred to as "intense and crystalline", "multifaceted and intriguing", and full of "unexpected twists". Almazan's album,
Rhizome, released in the Spring of 2014, was the first project to be released on the joint label Blue Note/
ArtistShare. == Discography ==