Aruán Ortiz draws inspiration from the mid-20th century Négritude movement on his striking new solo album Créole Renaissance, out August 29, 2025 via Intakt Records, is Ortiz’s first solo piano outing in eight years and a fascinating musical and intellectual interpretation of the African diaspora.

“One hears the firm imprint of Cuba’s musical heritage on Ortiz’s compositional style: the pulse of African-derived beats, the modern vocabulary of classical pianism and the abandon of free improvisation.”

– Suzanne Lorge, DownBeat

His own journey having retraced the path of jazz’s evolution from his native Cuba to the United States, pianist and composer Aruán Ortiz has long been fascinated by the ways in which the African diaspora has morphed into fascinating new permutations in its travels across the globe. On his latest album, Créole Renaissance, Ortiz takes Négritude, the cultural, political and literary movement that emerged among French intellectuals in the 1930s, as the leaping off point for a fascinating collection of solo piano explorations.

“Ortiz is an experimentalist and a tonal provocateur, influenced by European modernism and contemporary jazz as much as by Afro-Cuban tradition”

Pianist, violist, and composer Aruán Ortiz—born in Santiago de Cuba, and resident of Brooklyn—has been an active figure in the progressive jazz and avant-garde scene in the US for more than 15 years.

Since his arrival in the United States, Aruán has played, toured, and recorded with jazz luminaries such as Wadada Leo Smith, Don Byron, Greg Osby, Wallace Roney, Nicole Mitchell, Cameron Brown, Michael Formanek, William Parker, Adam Rudolph, Andrew Cyrille, Henry Grimes, Marshall Allen, Hamiet Bluiett, Oliver Lake, RufusReid, Graham Haynes, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Nasheet Waits. He has also collaborated with choreographers Jose Mateo, Danis Mora, and Milena Zullo; filmmakers Ben Chace, Mariona Lloreta, and Monica Rovira; poets Abiodun Oyewole from The Last Poets; writer/poet/ filmmaker Mtume Gant; DJ Logic and Val Jeanty Inc.; and renowned German writers Angelika Hentschel and Anna Breitenbach.

Aruán’s pianism has been lauded as “a solid and unique new sound in today’s jazz world.” and his albums have been featured in major publications worldwide, including JazznMore Swizerland, The Guardian UK, Expresso, The New York Times, DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone Magazine, Billboard, San Diego Union Tribune, All About Jazz, US, Jazzpodium, Musica Jazz, Il Muro Magazine, Il Corriere della Sera, Jazz Halo, The Ottawa Citizen, and The Irish Times.

Aruán holds an MFA in Music Composition by Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) and has received numerous accolades including South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant (2021), Jazz Coalition Commission Grant (2020), Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant (2019); the Composer Fellowship Award at Vermont College of Fine Arts (2016); the Doris Duke Impact Awards (2014); the Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Grant (2013); Latin Jazz Corner’s Arranger of the Year (2011) for his contribution on the album, “El Cumbanchero” by flutist Mark Weinstein (Jazzheads, 2011); Jas Hennessy Piano Solo Competition, Montreux, Switzerland (2001); and Best Jazz Interpretation, Festival de Jazz in Vic, Spain (2000).