“The virile throb of Astor Piazzolla’s nuevo tango was omnipresent in the pianist Emilio Solla’s stately pulse.”
— The New York Times

“...a well-balanced control of ensemble and a sensitive feel for style...”
— Latin Jazz Net

“an absolutely first rate composer/arranger”
— All About Jazz

"The great Duke Ellington said that a good arrangement is like recomposing. In my opinion, Emilio has recomposed the music without, in any way, damaging the legend that is Chick Corea. That's a very difficult task."
— Paquito D’Rivera

Latin GRAMMY winner and six-time GRAMMY nominee, Argentine-born and New York-based pianist and composer Emilio Solla got his degree in Classical Piano at the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires and his MA in Jazz Composition at the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York. His first project, Apertura, was praised by Astor Piazzolla as one of the most interesting new sounds in the Buenos Aires scene in 1986. Today, with thirteen albums as bandleader and more than fifty as arranger/producer, he is regarded by peers and critics as one of the most outstanding and unique composers in the Tango-Jazz field, a musical language that blends Argentine tango and folk with jazz and other contemporary music styles. He has performed all around Europe, Japan, the US, and Latin America to rave reviews in many of the most important jazz venues and festivals, such as Bimhuis, Lincoln Center, Marciac, Blue Note, Fasching, and more.

Solla moved to Barcelona in 1996 and later to New York in 2006, and since then he has worked with Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, Yo-Yo Ma, Edmar Castañeda, and many other jazz and classical music greats in his different capacities of composer, arranger, and pianist. He has also performed regularly in the city with his different projects at the Jazz Standard, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Birdland.

Solla continues to tour Europe and the US while working as a freelance arranger and pianist in different projects. His NY-based quintet, Bien Sur!, released its first album in 2010 with special guest Billy Hart. This album was included in the Best of 2010 list by DownBeat Magazine. Since November 2010, he has led a nine-piece orchestra, La Inestable de Brooklyn, featuring some of the strongest jazz players in NYC. Their first album, Second Half (2015), was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. In November 2014 Solla’s first symphonic work had its world premiere at the Palau de la Musica, during the Barcelona Jazz Festival, and its US premiere at Chicago Symphony Hall. 2017 took him back to Buenos Aires for the premiere of the symphonic version of his Suite Piazzollana. In 2018, he started composing for a new project, the Tango Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece big band, taking his blend of Latin American sounds and jazz to a whole new level of accomplishment. This orchestra released its first album, Puertos: Music From International Waters, in 2019. This album won the Latin GRAMMY in 2020 for Best Latin Jazz Album, and one of Solla's compositions, “La Novena,” earned a GRAMMY nomination in 2019 as Best Instrumental Arrangement, sharing the nomination with John Williams, Vince Mendoza, and Jacob Collier.

May 2023 found Solla releasing two new albums: his new quartet with flamenco singer/saxophonist Antonio Lizana, El Siempre Mar, which was nominated as Best Jazz Album in the Spain Music Awards, and a symphonic homage to Chick Corea featuring Paquito D’Rivera, in which Solla wrote all the arrangements and orchestrations (Warner Classics) and which earned two Latin GRAMMY nominations and one GRAMMY nomination. The album also won two awards in the Spain Music Awards. Solla also wrote arrangements for the Boston Symphony and the WDR Big Band. In March 2026, he will release a new album with La Inestable de Brooklyn, Handmade.

Solla has a long background as an educator as well, having taught regularly in different conservatories in Argentina and Spain. He is currently a Faculty Member at The New School in NY, and has been invited for residencies at Emory University, University of Kansas, University of Nebraska, Bates College, Gotemburg Music School (Sweden), Jazz & Pop Conservatory (Finland), and Western Michigan University, among others.