Julio Jáuregui was
born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Julio grew up in México City. His
mother, MireyaLópez, also apianist,
instilled in him the passion for music. Julio started his musical
education when hewas 6 years old at a school
named Artene. Artene teaches the importance of rhythmic structures in a
group format.
Julio attended the
National School of music from 1984-1987 where his focus of study was
percussion. Hestudied with the National Symphony percussionist Julio Villegas. This
effort was rewarded with performanceswiththe National Symphony Orchestra.
In 1990, Julio moved
to Eugene, Oregon. In Eugene, he attended Lane Community College for two
yearswhere he received best theory student of the year award. He later
enrolled at the University of Oregon tofinish his music degree. He studied jazz piano with Gary Versace and
jazz improvisation with saxophone playerSteve Owen. In Eugene he performed with Caliente, a local salsa band. He
became the musical director of
Caliente in 1992. Julio recorded his first CD with Caliente in 1991 and
collaborated with a couple of original songs for Caliente's CD "Voces Morenas." He was also part of a folk band
named Sandunga. Julio also joined forces with percussionist Mingo Lewis
(Santana's Drummer) and was part of "Combination to Go." During his
time with Mingo, he was able to learn more from funk, and Latin rhythms.
Julio also became a member of other ensembles
such as La Mayor,salsa band, Atmosphere, jazz
trio.
Julio moved to
Seattle in 1997. He joined Latin Expression and Matices and became the
musical director of
both. He also created Cambalache with Camilo Suárez. Julio has recorded
with Children of the Revolution,Guil Guimaraes, Jeff Busch, Nueva Era and others. He was part of Joe
Santiago's Salsa all stars concert in 2003in which he performed with Giovanni Hidalgo, Joe Santiago, Giovanni
Lugo, Pablito "El Indio" Rosario and others.
Julio has also performed with Adalberto Santiago, David Pabón, Hector
Tricoche, Lalo Rodriguez, and others.
In 2001 he joined
forces with singer and long time friend Carlos Cascante and formed
Tumbao a Latin sextet.
Tumbao has given them the freedom to experiment with many avenues and
types of performance. Tumbao'sCD "Recuerdos" features that versatility.
From 2004 to 2007 Julio was the musical director for
the musical "Musica Vitae" at the Century Ballroom. In 2006 he produced an recorded with Steve Guasch in
his two albums "Suiguiendo la Tradicion" and "Influencias"
which received world recognition.
Julio has also taught at Cornish School of Music substituting
for Jovino Santos for his Latin Ensemble and rhythm class. In 2011 he
recorded another CD with Carlos Cascante and Tumbao entitled "Hablando
en Serio" and also recorded and mixed a CD entitled "Flights of Mind"
with the Elspeth Savani Latin Jazz Quintet. Julio has recorded, mixed
and produced several Latin recordings throughout the Pacific Northwest
which has put him at the forefront of the Latin music scene. Being
bilingual has also help him bring people together at recording sessions,
master classes and lectures, as an interpreter or just a bridge between
musicians from different backgrounds.
Julio is now working on a Latin Jazz CD in which world class
musicians will participate such as Calixto Oviedo Mulens (NG la Banda,
Afrocuban All Stars), Paoli Mejias (Eddie Palmieri), Jeremy de Jesus,
Anthar López and
Fernell López,
Miguelito Valdés
and more to come.