Israel Varela
Biography Israel Varela
Israel Varela
Spiritual Evolution has always been part of Israel Varela's artistic Identity".
Recording Artist, Euro Latin Award Winner Israel Varela is one of the most accomplished artists of his generation and over the last decade has been one of the most in demand Jazz/World/Flamenco musicians in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and America, traveling extensively around the world sharing his music to audiences in more than 30 countries including Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, Italy, United States, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Greece, Belgium, China, France, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Tunisia, Switzerland, Germany, Argentina, Peru', Chile, Jamaica, Portugal, Uruguay, Angola, UK, Romania, Turkey and Luxemburg.
His originality and distinctive style allowed him to perform with multitudes of renowned artists such as: Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Mike Stern, Yo-Yo-Ma, Victor Bailey, Abe Laboriel, Pino Daniele, Diego Amador, Rita Marcotulli, Karen Lugo, Andrea Bocelli, Joaquin Cortes, Jorge Pardo, Richard Bona, Carles Benavent, Dwiki Darmawhan, Kamal Musallam, Chano Dominguez, Markus Stockhausen, Andy Sheppard, Maria Pia de Vito, OSEM Symphony Orchestra, Baja California Orchestra, Gary Willis, among many others.
During his teenage years he studied in Los Angeles Ca. privately with Alex Acuna and Dave Weckl before moving to Italy in 2000. Originally from Tijuana, Mexico, he belongs to the fourth generation of a renowned family of Tijuana musicians. He grew up in an exciting musical environment in a house where predominantly classical and sacred music was played.
Varela remains true to his Jazz and Latin roots and at the same time Flamenco and Contemporary Classical influences are all reflected in each of his nine albums: TIJUANA PORTRAIT (2007) , BORDER PEOPLE (2009), ZAMAR (2012), INVOCATIONS (2015), AS ABOVE SO BELOW (2018), ISRAEL VARELA COLLECTION(2018), YIN AND YANG(2019), "THE LABYRINTH PROJECT" (2019)
