Episode #176: Diego Pinera

Diego Pinera was born 1981 in Montevideo, Uruguay and has lived in Germany since 2003. He studied drumming at the Berklee College of Music (USA), at the University of Music in Havana (Cuba) and at the University of Music and Theater in Leipzig (Germany). Pinera’s encounters with Latin American music, and with jazz in all its breadth, have led him to develop an unmistakable style. Through the combination of his advanced conception of rhythm, a jazz sound with a Latin touch, and the freedom of improvisation his strong character comes across vividly. In Pinera´s compositions there is musical complexity and virtuosity in abundance imbued with great subtlety and his love to odd meter grooves. In Uruguay he recorded with the Diego Pinera Trio the album “Buscando” under the Perro Andaluz label. Back in Germany he founded the Berlin Quartet and released in 2010 “Reflexiones” featuring Tony Lakatos. In 2014 the Jazz Thing Next Generation Series “Strange Ways” followed. In May 2016 he went on the cd release tour for “My Picture” with Donny McCaslin and Phil Donkin. In 2017 Diego Pinera received as bandleader and composer the prestigious prize ECHO Jazz for his album “My picture” in the category drums/ percussion national, recorded in New York with Mark Turner and Ben Street. His first ACT music album “Despertando” was released 2018 and his next ACT album "Odd Wisdom" feat. Donny McCaslin has been considerated for the finalist of the GRAMMY Music Awards 2021. With this project he played at the Jazzbaltica 2022, live recorded by ZDF. In November 2022 he has been invited to play in 30th anniversary event of ACT at the Berlin Philharmonic together with Wolfgang Haffner, Nils Landgren and many more artists. Diego Pinera won the German award Deutscher Jazzpreis 2023 for „BestArrangement of the Year“ of Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85 and was also nominated for the best composition of the year with „Through Hell“. Since 2022 he has taught at the University of Music Dresden "Carl Maria von Weber" and since 2023 at the University of applied sciences Osnabrück. He is also a first-call session/ sideman/ clinician and has been touring the world with many different settings and bands. He played with musicians like Donny McCaslin, Mark Turner, Ben Monder, Scott Colley and Ben Street. ​Winner of the German Award "Deutsche Jazzpreis 2023"for "Best Arrangement of the year", Diego recorded with John Patitucci and Dave Kikosko in NY 2024 and is a teacher and part of the Jazzfaculty of the University of Music in Dresden and Osnabruck.

You can listen to Episode #176: Diego Pinera online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode #176: Diego Pinera is an episode from Improv Exchange Podcast by Leander Young.

This episode is 33:53 long.

This episode was published on Sep 9, 2025.

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