PROJECTS | Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela

Surrogate Activities NONET

Surrogate Activities is a suite made up of a series of original compositions with a common musical and conceptual spirit that acts as a common thread. The work wants to be a reflection of his recent experiences and reflections on his return to the peninsula. In an implicit and subtle way, as well as strictly musical, the pieces revive stories, places and memories of people who have served as a source of inspiration. Various musical motifs are presented that intertwine between movements, evoking musical memories and echoing other moments in the suite. The project fuses the spontaneity of jazz with the meticulousness and pointillism typical of chamber music from the European musical tradition, creating a balance between sections composed and organized in detail and freer parts that call more for exploration by the performers. The group's very personal and thick sound is the result of months of work and years of friendship in which the performers have been contributing the best of themselves to the band.

Recorded at Wellspring Studios (Acton, USA) in 2019. Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela (Piano, Composition, production), Eviatar Slivnik (drums), Nerya Zidon (Alto Sax), Joe Melnicove (Flute), Harshitha Krisnan (Voice), Daniel Casares (Guitar), James Haezlewood Dale (Bass), Haruka Sasaki (Tenor Sax), Isaiah Johnson (Bass Clarinet), Bobby Lane (Flugelhorn), Elif Sanchez (Voice)

MOVE

MOVE is a collaborative original music project made up of Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela, Borja Barrueta, Alberto Arteta and Javier Callén. MOVE is movement, traction, displacement. Each concert, a flow of ideas that coincide in space-time, with a vocation to transcend the unipersonal and at the same time be one with whom not only hears, but also listens. In perfect symbiosis, Borja Barrueta, Alberto Arteta, Javier Callen and Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela flap their wings towards the vanguard of contemporary popular music, with their feet rooted in the jazz, classical and folkloric tradition. Roots and wings, which make MOVE a moment in motion, a discourse for our time.

Recorded at Sala Vital Fundazioa (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) by Sonora Estudios in 2022. Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela (Piano, Composition), Borja Barrueta (Drums), Alberto Arteta (Sax, Composition), Javier Callén (Bass Composition)

Perspektywa

In his first work as a producer, composer and arranger for the singer Malwina Masternak, “Perspektywa”, the project offers the listener the perspective of his travels through different countries, ideas and musical influences in the last years of his life. The combination of these views invites you to immerse yourself in the world of compositions, standard arrangements and original music by Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela and Malwina Masternak, as well as the poetry of legendary Polish and international writers such as LeopoStaff, Wislawa Szymborsla, Maya Angelou and William Davis. The album features Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela as pianist and producer, Daniel Lizarraga as drummer, Jort Terwijn on bass, and a special collaboration with six-time Grammy Award-winning drummer Terri Lyn Carrington.

Recorded at Ona Etxea Estudios (Areatza, Spain) in 2022 by Josue Pascual. Malwina Masternak (Voice), Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela (Piano, Production), Daniel Lizarraga (Drums), Jort Terwijn (Bass), Terri Lyne Carrington (Drums).

Urjauzia

In this project, winner of the BBK Jazz 2017 best album award, Iñigo joins forces with guitarist Adrián Fernandez, combining their original compositions and creating a common sound from different contexts. Urjauzia combines melodies of our time, ancestral folk songs and new compositions, in an attempt to make jazz and improvisation an artistic reflection of our reality. The CD combines very different musical styles in 10 pieces composed by Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela and the guitarist Adrián Fernández in equal parts. Australian double bass player James Heazlewood Dale and drummer Noam Israeli have also participated in the making of the album. On this occasion, apart from the stable quartet, the group has the collaborations of Marina Tuset (voice) and Alberto Enguita (saxophone).

Recorded at Sonora Estudios (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) in 2017. Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela (Piano, Composition), Adrián Fernández (Guitar, Composition), Noam Israeli (Drums), James Haezlewood Dale (Bass), Marina Tuset (Voice) , Alberto Enguita (Sax).

Amalur

In his first record work, Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela presents original compositions together with Helen de la Rosa, Elin Sandberg and María Fajardo, with a young energy, combining sensitivity in interpretation with the transgression typical of four young people with a great adventurous spirit. Folk influences, irregular rhythms and the use of poetry make this first album a daring proposal full of young talent.

Recorded at Perfection Studios, Boston USA in 2015. Iñigo Ruiz de Gordejuela (Piano, Composition), Helen de la Rosa (Drums), Elin Sandberg (Bass), María Fajardo (Voice).