The guitarist Álvaro Imperial, originally from Murcia, has trained internationally, residing in such emblematic cities for jazz as Berlin, New York and Barcelona, where he has lived since 2017 and completed his Higher Studies at the Taller de Musics. In this city, he has participated in national and international projects, such as the Taller de Músics Ensemble with Perico Sambeat or Ensemble X with Sebastian Studnizky, which has participated in events such as the Jazz I am festival (Barcelona, April 2022), Berlin Jazz Fest (Berlin, May 2022) or La Pedrera (Barcelona, July 2022). In turn, in addition to being part of other groups, it has consolidated the Álvaro Imperial Quartet project, which was selected to participate in the Sibiu Jazz Competition (2019), the Murcia Jazz Festival (2021) and with which it toured in November 2021 in Portugal (Oporto and Coimbra).
Over the years, he has trained with musicians such as Michael Lauren, Albert Vila, Jorge Pardo, Ramón Cardo or Ernesto Aurignac and has participated in numerous workshops, from the Spring Meeting in Sedajazz (Valencia) to the different seminars offered in Barcelona with musicians as Chris Cheek and John stowell. In the years residing in Berlin (2013-2016), he studied with musicians such as guitarist Giorgio Crobu and was active in the Berlin jazz scene. In 2017 he made a musical training stay in New York, where he shared experiences and creations with other American musicians or those living in the city, participating in an unparalleled musical and artistic dialogue. He highlights his training with musicians like Barry Harris and especially his apprenticeship with Peter Bernstein.
He is part of the volume Jazz in Spain: musicians, festivals and venues (EdictOràlia llibres i publicacions, 2018). The critic José Antonio García López wrote in the virtual magazine Tomajazz the review titled “Jazz with guts”, where you could read: “Effort and work seem more important to me, especially if we think of the artistic journey of someone who is betting , with dedication and perseverance, to create a place for himself in music and specifically in jazz”.
On October 14, 2022, his first album will be released with the Álvaro Imperial Quartet project, Calima, where seven compositions are collected where the jazz tradition flows from a renewed vision; With them, they seek to return to the root of this music: to its liberation, its live play and the prevailing improvisation in all the proposals. “Calima”, “Isolated pawn”, “Freeze”, “Cu_cu”, “Posh world”, “Halloumi” and “Les traces del silenci” allow the public to take a complex and compact journey through the diversity of jazz forms modern.