Jorge Luis Pacheco

Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Jorge Luis Pacheco is one of the leading pianists and musicians of the new generation of jazz in Cuba. Winner of the Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition in Switzerland, Pacheco is a fiery young pianist with “flying hands.” He has performed all over the world including prominent jazz clubs such as Dizzy’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, theaters, and festivals such as the Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York, The Piano Night in the House of Blues at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary and the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel among others.

He has also performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington several times as well as the legendary Apollo Theater where a lifetime achievement award was presented to Herbie Hancock. He has collaborated with the likes of Wynton Marsalis and the JLCO, Arturo O’ Farrill and the legendary Lenny White as well as with Dave Weckl and Richie Goods as a trio in 2018. Pacheco is a passionate, extravagant, exciting entertainer on stage and constantly captures the audience’s attention with his heartfelt performances and electric energy. Pacheco was the winner of the JoJazz Award in Havana and in 2017 he won the Best Solo and Performance Award in the Jazz Competiton “Made in New York” in New York City with one of his own compositions - “Con el Pache me Voy". Pacheco also has a Master’s Degree in Composition from the Instituto Superior de Arte de La Habana.

Pacheco is a virtuoso pianist, composer, arranger, percussionist and singer. Monty Alexander exclaimed that he “defies genre” - often playing Cuban jazz, traditional Cuban music, original film scores, and a new Symphony for Jazz Quartet and Symphony Orquestra that he composed, which is inspired by the music of South America and Afro Cuban Music. Pacheco showed the audience a range of different sounds from the most classic, performed by the Symphonic Orchestra to the most contemporary by the Jazz Quartet, where both joined together to achieve a balance between musical worlds.

The Lockdown Album is Jorge Luis Pacheco’s Ropeadope debut - a beautiful reflection of our shared experiences of the early twenties. The album is a beautiful presentation of his talent and style, with a modern Cuban flavor that defines the current and future iteration of Cuban style.

The Lockdown ALbum

Release Date: May 13, 2022

Jorge Luis Pacheco - Piano, Keyboard, Synthesizer, Voice
Helmut Reuter - Bass
Thomas Hempel - Drums
Anna Rabea Pacheco - Voice (songs 4 and 7)
The Twang - Chorus (song 5)

Christian Rollwage - Sound engineer, recording, mixing and mastering
Photos by Angel Candeaux