Victor Noriega (born May 5, 1978 in Vancouver)^[1] is a Filipino American jazz pianist, based in Seattle.

He moved from Canada to the United States with his family soon after birth, and grew up in both Portland, Oregon and Seattle. He began his jazz piano career at age 18.^[1] He graduated from the University of Washington.^[2]

Since 2000, Noriega has played regularly with the Victor Noriega Trio, which additionally includes bassist Willie Blair and drummer Eric Eagle.^[1] They have recorded three albums together: Stone's Throw in 2004, Alay in 2006, and Fenceless (which also featured trumpet player Jay Thomas and alto saxophone player Mark Taylor) in 2008. Stone's Throw earned the trio a nomination for the Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards for Northwest Acoustic Jazz Group in 2005.^[1] Alay, which featured jazz renditions of traditional Filipino songs, won Noriega the 2006 Golden Ear Awards for both Northwest Instrumentalist of the Year and Recording of the Year.^[2]

He has played occasionally in Shanghai since 2005, performing at venues such as JZ Club.^[3]

Noriega's musical style has been compared to that of Dave Brubeck^[4] and Brad Mehldau.^[5]

[edit] Discography

With the Victor Noriega Trio:

• Stone's Throw (2004)
• Alay (2006)

With "Victor Noriega Trio+2":

• Fenceless (2008)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Victor Noriega homepage
• JazzTimes review of 2006 Earshot Jazz Festival