Pedro Iturralde

He is a Spanish musician, saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. Professor at the Conservatory of Madrid and collaborator, as a soloist, with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, he received in 1992 the award for Musical, Literary and Plastic Creation of the Community of Madrid. Throughout his life he has alternated teaching with jazz performance, his great passion. Along with the pianist Tete Montoliu, he is one of the great figures of Spanish jazz of all times.

He began studying clarinet and saxophone at the age of 9, and at 11 he was already playing in a local band whose director, a jazz lover, soon introduced him to this music. In 1948 he made his first tour outside Spain.  He played regularly in the jazz combo of the Whisky Jazz Club, together with some of the regular musicians in that club such as Joe Moro, Juan Carlos Calderón, Regolí, Vlady Bas or Santiago Pérez. 

In the classical field -which he combined perfectly with his teaching and jazz performances- Pedro Iturralde has also had a marked projection. In 1992, for example, he took part in the European Summit in Maastricht, performing his song Old Fiends with a large orchestra. He has collaborated assiduously with the Orquesta Nacional de España and the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE, as well as with the Orquesta de Cámara de Víctor Martín, apart from his classical duo performances with the pianist Agustín Serrano.

Pedro Iturralde's style can be called classical, as it follows the basic patterns of the saxophone in its hard bop period. However, his great technical preparation and his exhaustive knowledge of classical music have always made him the owner of his own style that oozes ingenuity and interpretative talent. 

On the other hand, the fusion in his jazz sessions of many compositional elements - folkloric, classical and improvisational, mostly - has turned this performer into a significant value who, far from trying to innovate, has always tried to investigate in his compositions and interpretations with Spanish folkloric elements, fusing them with jazz. With this, his contribution to the Spanish jazz field has been exemplary. To all this we should add the importance of being a pioneer in the radical fusion between flamenco and jazz, a trend that has been continued by other saxophonists, as in the case of Jorge Pardo.