Ignasi Terraza

Ignasi Terraza (born 14 July 1962) is a Spanish jazz pianist.

Blind from the age of 10, he studied piano as well as Computer Engineering and was the first blind person in Spain to obtain this degree. After three years dividing his time between his profession and music, in 1991, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to jazz, accompanying vocalists such as Kalil Wilson, Charmin Michelle, Randy Greer, Michelle McCain, Lavelle or Stacey Kent, and jazz musicians Frank Wess, Jesse Davis, Gene "The Mighty Flea" Conners, Teddy Edwards, Ted Curson, Spike Robinson, Ralph Lalama or Brad Leali.

As a leader, his trios and quartets have included bassists Pierre Boussaguet, Mario Rossy, Javier Colina, Jules Bekoko and Horacio Fumero, among others, and Jean Pierre Derouard, Gregory Hutchinson, Walter Perkins, Bobby Durham, Peer Wyboris, Jo Krause, Esteve Pi or Julian Vaughn on drums.

One particular association, divided into two stints (1985–1988 and 1996–2000), was with vibraphonist and drummer Oriol Bordas, playing in trio/quartet formations and with the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra.

Since 2003 he has been teaching jazz piano at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya - Catalonia College of Music. Since 2006, his trio has accompanied singer Susana Sheiman at venues in both Madrid and Barcelona. Since 2009, he has featured in several public appearances and records of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, a youth big band founded by Joan Chamorro in Barcelona and formed by multi-instrumentalists such as Andrea Motis, Rita Payés and many others. He is also a member of Motis Chamorro Quintet which includes Josep Traver and Esteve Pi.

Terraza's 2009 recording, Plaça Vella (2009), with the Josep Maria Farràs & Ignasi Terraza Trio features two tracks with saxophonist Jesse Davis.

In 2013, he premiered his Suit Miró at Washington's National Gallery of Art on the occasion of that museum's monographic exhibition on the Catalan artist Joan Miró and the following year performed the same suite at Madrid's Museo Reina Sofía on the occasion of International Museum Day.

Awards
From 1990 to 1993, he co-led, with US guitarist David Mitchell, the Mitchell-Terraza Quartet, winning the "best new group" award at the 1991 Festival Internacional de Jazz de Getxo.

2009, Terraza won the Jazz Piano Competition at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival.

Discography

 * Festival Internacional de Jazz de Getxo (1991) - Mitchell-Terraza Quartet
 * Shell Blues (1993) - Mitchell-Terraza Quartet
 * Miaow! (1995) - Four Kats Jazz Quartet
 * The Voice - The Romance of Jazz (1996) - Randy Greer
 * Let Me Tell You Something (1999) - Ignasi Terraza Trio
 * Jazz a les Fosques/Jazz en la oscuridad (1999) - Ignasi Terraza Trio
 * September in the Rain (1999) - Barcelona Jazz Orchestra
 * Night Sounds (2000) - Toni Solá & Ignasi Terraza Trio
 * Christmas Swings in Barcelona (2003) - Randy Greer & Ignasi Terraza Trio
 * IT’s Coming (2004)
 * Confessin’ (2004) Oriol Romaní & Ignasi Terraza
 * In a Sentimental Groove (2005) - Ignasi Terraza Trio
 * Plaça Vella (2009) - Josep Maria Farràs & Ignasi Terraza Trio
 * Suit Miró (2013) - Ignasi Terraza Trio

as a sideman

 * Motis Chamorro Quintet: Live at Casa Fuster (Jazz to Jazz, 2014)
 * Motis Chamorro Big Band: Live (Jazz to Jazz, 2015)
 * Andrea Motis: Emotional Dance (Impulse!, 2017)
 * Andrea Motis: Do Outro Lado Do Azul (Verve, 2019)