Yuri Juarez

Yuri Martín Juárez Yllescas (Lima-Peru 1973), guitarist, arranger and composer, began his career in 1996 as guitarist for various groups of Afro-Peruvian music, folk and fusion.

His musical training ranges from formal studies at New York University with Gil Goldstein, John Scofield and Peter Bernstein and also with the Peruvian masters of the guitar such as Pepe Torres, Alvaro Lagos, Jorge Madueño and more “street” experience in Afro-Peruvian peñas.

He has shared the stage and recorded with musicians like Eva Ayllón, Susana Baca, Arturo O'Farrill,Ron Carter, and iconic Peruvian composers such as Kiri Escobar and Javier Lazo, and trail blazing bands including the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet, Novalima and Tangolandó among others.   

 

In 2000, Yuri becomes involved with Latin-American folk music for the first time with the group Sin Líneas en el Mapa.  In 2004 he starts exploring the Afro-Peruvian Jazz current with Edward Perez, Rafael "Fusa" Miranda and Juan Medrano Cotito.

In November of 2008 Yuri released his first album. Afroperuano with its own repertoire and important composers Chabuca Granda, Carlos Hayre and Chucho Valdes, achieving great success in domestic and international criticism.  

   

In December of 2009 he moved to New York City and gets the Latin Jazz Corner Awards in the categories of Best Afroperuvian Jazz Album and Best Latin Jazz Guitarist debut for his “Afroperuano”.

In 2012 he released "Tangolandó" with the Argentinean singer Sofia Tosello. Tangolandó is the first encounter of traditional Argentinean tangos with the Afro-Peruvian rhythms. This album was nominated for the Independent Music Awards in 2013.

 

Guitar Sapiens (2016) is his lifetime project where he puts together all his 20 years of experience like a performer and composer. This is a huge orchestral and ensemble project, a double album where is blended their Classical, Jazz, Flamenco, Brazilian, Tango and Afro-Peruvian music influences. The suite "Hayre" and "Gitanos y Criollos" are two examples of those influences.

Lima (2019) is a tribute from two Peruvian musicians to their hometown. It is a walk through the different styles of the so-called Creole music, the traditional music of the capital city of Peru. The album is a modern look at a classic repertoire of songs where tradition becomes avant-garde and avant-garde tradition. The guitar and the Afro-Peruvian cajón are the protagonists of this story told with melancholy, mischief, passion, and joy at the same time.