Hector Martignon is a Colombian pianist and composer of Italian descent living in New York City. Two of Martignon's albums have been nominated for a Grammy Award: Refugee (2007) and Second Chance (2010). Martignon is known for crossbreeding the improvisational language of Jazz with diverse musical idioms, such as Classical European, Latin American folklore and World Music. On its exhibit Latin Jazz, the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
lists Martignon among the leading artists “exploring the regional sources of Latin Jazz”.
Training
At age 18, Martignon abandoned his engineering studies in Colombia in order to formally study music in Germany, where he attained a bachelor's degree in Piano Performance at the
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...
, under
Robert-Alexander Bohnke. There he received instruction from Swiss composer
Klaus Huber
Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saar ...
on the rudiments of composition and instrumentation, attending related Seminars and Master Classes from the likes of
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...
,
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music.
Biography
Early years
Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono b ...
and
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering wo ...
, who routinely taught in Freiburg on their way to nearby
Donaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival (german: Donaueschinger Musiktage, links=no) is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is considered the oldest festiva ...
and
Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music. He was awarded a master's degree at Manhattan School of Music, studying Jazz Piano with
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era.
Biography
Born in Philadel ...
and Classical Piano with
Solomon Mikowsky. There he attended composition courses with Czech composer
Ludmila Ulehla.
Musical career

During his studies, Martignon backed Salsa singers like
Celia Cruz
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during ...
,
Ismael Miranda
Ismael Miranda, also known as ''El Niño Bonito de la Salsa'' ("The Pretty Boy of Salsa") (born February 20, 1950) is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter.
Early years
Miranda (birth name: Ismael Miranda Carrero ) was born in Aguada, Puerto Rico ...
and
Pete “Conde” Rodriguez
Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to:
People
* Pete (given name)
* Pete (nickname)
* Pete (surname)
Fictional characters
* Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe
* Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a characte ...
on their European tours, mostly in US Army bases in Germany. His first professional recording was with Greek composer
Mikis Theodorakis
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works.
He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...
on his ''Canto General''. Moving to New York city in 1989, Martignon joined both the Salsa band and the Jazz ensemble of
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
, New World Spirit, from 1990 to 1998, contributing compositions and arrangements, as well as keyboard work, to 5 albums, including the Grammy-nominated ''My Summertime'' (1995). (
John Storm Roberts, Latin Jazz, , pages 222, 230). Martignon also toured with
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga an ...
,
Gato Barbieri
Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...
,
Steve Turre
Stephen Johnson Turre (born September 12, 1948, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz trombonist and a pioneer of using seashells as instruments, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. For years, Turre has b ...
,
Paquito D’Rivera,
Don Byron
Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer.
Biography
His mother ...
and was invited to perform with
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...
''Project America'' featuring
Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...
.
In 1996 Martignon started in earnest a dedicated solo career, performing in music festivals, theaters, clubs and colleges worldwide, releasing in 1997 a first of six albums as a leader, ''Portrait in White and Black'' (
John Storm Roberts, Latin Jazz, , page 242) featuring Barretto and
Donny McCaslin. Two later albums, ''Refugee'' (2007) and ''Second Chance'' (2010) were each nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
. ''The Big Band Theory'', a big band-plus-strings formatted album with all arrangements and six compositions written by Martignon, was listed as one of
Downbeat Magazine’s 'Best Albums of 2016'. In it Martignon displays his Jazz prowess alongside a Classical perspective in orchestration, combining original strings with modern brass and woodwind harmonies and Afro Cuban rhythmics in Bach's Aria ''Erbarme dich'', from the St Matheus Passion.
Film and theater
Martignon wrote the scores for one feature film,
Septimo Cielo, a short for
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, ''From Dusk till Dawn'' and for two plays for Repertorio Español in New York,
Ana en el Trópico and award-winning
Cita a Ciegas
''Cita a ciegas'' (English: ''Blind Date'') is a Mexican telenovela produced by Pedro Ortiz de Pinedo, based on the Argentine telenovela titled '' Ciega a citas'' created by Carolina Aguirre. It stars Victoria Ruffo, Arturo Peniche, Omar Fierr ...
. He performed all piano parts for
Eat Drink Man Woman
''Eat Drink Man Woman'' () is a 1994 Taiwanese comedy-drama film directed by Ang Lee, from a script co-written with James Schamus and Hui-Ling Wang.Howe, Desson.‘Eat Drink Man Woman’" ''The Washington Post''. 19 October 1994. Retrieved on ...
, an Oscar-nominated film by
Ang Lee
Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popul ...
, arranging and producing some of the cuts. His Broadway experience as pianist, arranger, assistant director and musical director is extensive and includes productions such as
The Capeman
''The Capeman'' is a musical play with music by Paul Simon and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 pe ...
,
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
''Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' ( es, Crónica de una muerte anunciada) is a novella by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981. It tells, in the form of a pseudo-journalistic reconstruction, the story of the murder of Santiago Nasar by t ...
at Lincoln Center,
The Mambo Kings
''The Mambo Kings'' is a 1992 musical drama film based on the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love'' by Oscar Hijuelos. The film was directed and produced by Arne Glimcher, and stars Armand Assante, Antonio Ba ...
and
Selena Forever
''Selena Forever ''is an American stage musical, based on the 1997 film ''Selena'', that tells the life of the famous Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. The musical has been staged under two titles. The first, ''Selena Forever'', was conceiv ...
. Between 2018 and 2019, Martignon toured 10 cities in Cuba, Europe and China as musical director and pianist of the Cuban Musical ''Carmen la Cubana'', written and directed by British director
Christopher Renshaw
Christopher Renshaw (born 18 March 1952 in Reading) is a British opera and theatre director. He has directed in multiple countries, including musical theatre in London's West End.
Biography
In 2001, Renshaw directed ''Taboo'', a musical with the ...
based on Bizet's opera ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...
''.
Teaching
Alongside his performing career, Martignon has been actively engaged in the musical training of young generations, teaching Jazz Composition at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is ...
, and at the
Ludwigsburg University of Education, in Germany. In 2017 Martignon was the piano instructor at the yearly ''Jazz is Back'' Summer Festival in
Groznjan, Croatia. He has conducted master classes at
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...
, the Sunderman Conservatory at
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women ...
; the
Geneva Conservatory
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...
; EJMA, the Jazz department of the
Lausanne Conservatory
The Haute école de musique de Lausanne (HEMU, known as Institute of Advanced Musical Studies prior to 2010, founded in 1861 as Conservatoire de Lausanne) is a Swiss music school located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of Switzerland ...
, in Switzerland; and at
Tokyo University
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
.
Since January 2020 he teaches theory, history and Jazz composition at the department of music at
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of N ...
.
Publications
Martignon wrote the ''Salsa Piano Book'', commissioned and published by
Hal Leonard
HAL may refer to:
Aviation
* Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia
* Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL)
* HAL Airport, Bangalore, India
* Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fi ...
. Beside for his own albums, he was commissioned to write liner notes for releases by
Chris Bergson
Chris Bergson (born May 24, 1976) is an American born guitarist, singer and songwriter. Chris Bergson was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame as a Master Blues Artist in 2015.
Early life
Bergson was born in New York, New York. In 1 ...
, Eddie Martinez, Nelson Riveros and Andrés Cuadros de Bejar.
Discography
As a leader
* ''Portrait in White and Black'' (Candid, 1996)
* ''The Foreign Affair'' (Candid, 1998)
* ''Refugee'' (
Zoho Music
Zoho Music is a Latin jazz independent record label based in New York, founded by Joachim Becker in 2003. In 2005, the label expanded to blues, R&B, Southern and classic rock on the Zoho Roots imprint. The catalog consists of over 180 CD release ...
, 2007)
* ''Live at Birdland'' (GMN, 2008)''
''
* ''Second Chance'' (Zoho Music, 2010)
* ''The Big Band Theory'' (Zoho Music, 2016)
As a co-leader
* Burgstaller-Martignon-4 ''Mozart’s Blue Fantasies'' (Summit, 2009)
* Burgstaller-Martignon-4 ''Bach’s Secret Files'' (Summit, 2011)
As sideman
As: pianist (p), composer (c), arranger (a), orchestrator (o), producer (pr)
*
Mikis Theodorakis
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works.
He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...
, ''Canto General'' (1980; p)
* Sunrise Orchestra, ''Malata Suite'' (1986; p)
*
Conexión Latina, ''Un Poco Loco'' (1986; p)
* Irazu, ''Mambo Inn'' (1991; p, c)
*
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
, ''Handprints'' (1991; p, c)
*
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
, ''Ancestral Messages'' (1992; p, c, a)
*
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
, ''Soy Dichoso (1992; p)''
* Angelo Y su Tumbao Moderno, ''Extasis y Dolor'' (1993; p, c, a, pr)
*
Ang Lee
Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popul ...
, ''
Eat, Dream, Man, Woman'' (1994; p, a, pr)
*
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
, ''Taboo'' (1994; p, c, a)
*
Lucia Pulido, ''Lucia'' (1995; p, a, pr)
*
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
, ''My Summertime'' (1995, p, c, a)
* Descarga Boricua, ''Abrázate'' (1996; p)
*
Gabriela Anders, ''Fantasía'' (1996; p, a)
* Cruz Control, ''Cruz Control'' (1997; a)
*
Paul Simon, ''The Capeman, the Cast Album'' (1997; p, a)
*
Gabriela Anders, ''Wanting'' (1998; a)
*
Luis Bonilla
Luis Diego Bonilla (October 12, 1965) is an American jazz trombonist of Costa Rican descent. He is also a producer, composer, and educator.
Biography Early life, musical education and influences
Luis Bonilla was born and raised in Eagle Rock, ...
, ''Escucha'' (2000; p, c)
*
Monday Michiru
is a Japanese American actress, singer, and songwriter whose music encompasses and fuses a wide variety of genres including jazz, dance, pop, and soul. She is arguably best known for being a pioneer of the acid jazz movement in Japan in the ...
, ''4 Seasons'' (2000; p)
*
Don Byron
Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer.
Biography
His mother ...
, ''You are #6'' (2001; p)
*
Paul Peress
Paul Peress is an American drummer, composer, and record producer.
Career
Peress grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. He started on violin when he was six years old, then played trumpet when he was twelve.
His family moved after his father, Maur ...
, ''Awakening'' (2002; p, a)
*
Gabriela Anders, ''Ecléctica'' (2003; p, a)
*
Yerba Buena (band), ''President Alien'', (2003, accordion)
*
Gabriela Anders, ''Latina'' (2004; p, a)
* Vitaly Osmaçko,
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, ''Svetloba V ZIitu'' (2004; p, a, o)
* Julia Dollison, ''Observatory'' (2005, c)
*
Samuel Torres, ''Skin Tones'' (2006, p, c)
*
Gabriela Anders, ''Bossa Beleza'' (2008, p, a, pr)
* Willie Martinez y La Familia, ''After Winter, Spring'' (2008, a)
* Johnny Ray, ''El De La Rumba Soy Yo'' (2008, accordion)
* Eddie Allen, ''Salongo'' (2008; p)
* Chembo Corniel, ''Things I Wanted To Do'' (2009, a, c)
*
Juan Garcia-Herreros ’Snow Owl’ ''The Art of The Contrabass Guitar'' (2010; p)
* Nelson Riveros, ''Camino al Barrio'' (2010; p, c, a, pr)
* Silvestre Martínez, ''Heritage'' (2010; p, a)
*
Candido
Candido is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Candido Amantini (1914–1992), Italian Roman Catholic priest
* Candido Camero known simply as "Candido" (1921-2020), Cuban percussionist
* Candido Ja ...
, ''Hands of Fire'' (2011; p)
*
Birdland Big Band, ''Eleven'' (2011; p)
* Steffen Kuehn, ''Constantine'' (2011; p)
*
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock music, rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967. The group began calling themselves the Chicago Transit Authority in 1968, then shortened the name in 1969. Self-described as a "rock and roll band with Horn (ins ...
and New York Latin All Stars, ''Éxitos'' (2012; p)
* Roberto Santamaria, ''Fiesta al Jazz'' (2013; p, a)
*
Juan Garcia-Herreros ’Snow Owl’ ''Normas'' (2013; p)
* Antonio Cuadros de Bejar, ''Color Americano'' (2014; p, a)
* Kotoe Suzuki, ''Kotoe'' (2017; p, pr)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martignon, Hector
Living people
1959 births
Colombian pianists
Colombian composers
21st-century pianists
Zoho Music artists
Academic staff of the Ludwigsburg University of Education