about Lluc

Lluc Casares (Barcelona, 1990). Lluc is the first person from the Iberian Peninsula to have studied the Artist Diploma program at The Juilliard School in New York, under the mentorship of masters such as Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Washington, and Ben Wolfe.

Lluc has released five albums as a leader. The latest, Big Band vol. 1 (The Changes, 2025), is his first in this format; previous releases include Ride (The Changes, 2023), recorded in Amsterdam with guitar master Jesse Van Ruller; Septet (The Changes, 2021), and Sketches Overseas (Outside In Music, 2018), recorded in New York. Sketches Overseas won the “Best Jazz Album of 2018” award from Enderrock magazine. Red (Temps Records, 2015) was his debut album as a leader.

Lluc has recorded over 20 albums as a collaborator. He co-directs the Barcelona Art Orchestra and is a member of Smack Dab, The Gramophone Allstars Big Band, and the Barcelona Jazz Orquestra, among others. He has performed at some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals, such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Marciac Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, Baloise Session, and the Terrassa Jazz Festival, among others. He has also performed at clubs including Dizzy’s Club, Blue Note, and Fat Cat in New York, Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Jamboree in Barcelona, and Jazz at Lincoln Center in Shanghai.

Throughout his career, Lluc has had the privilege of sharing the stage with musicians such as Dr. John, Nicholas Payton, Frank Wess, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Jon Faddis, Jesse Davis, Joe Farnsworth, Jesse Van Ruller, Miguel Zenón, Wendell Brunious, Grant Stewart, Ben Van Gelder, and Benjamin Herman, among many others.

Before his time at Juilliard, Lluc completed his Bachelor’s degree at ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya) and his Master’s at CvA (Conservatorium van Amsterdam), where he studied with the European jazz legend Ferdinand Povel. During that period, Lluc also took part in a six-month exchange program at Temple University (Philadelphia), where he studied with Dick Oatts.

In 2019, Lluc founded The Changes together with five lifelong friends. It is a collective and record label created to release new projects free from the constraints and limitations of external agents. In five years, The Changes has released more than 40 works.

Lluc teaches at ESMUC and has also taught at CSMIB (Conservatori Superior de Música de les Illes Balears) and ESEM (Taller de Músics, Barcelona). He has given a seminar at the Conservatorio di Torino (Italy) and several masterclasses at institutions such as the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and two institutes in Shanghai (China).

One of the highlights of his career came when the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis invited him to perform a song at a sold-out Palau de la Música Catalana in February 2020. He was able to perform again with Marsalis in 2025 at the Marciac Jazz Festival.

Composition and arranging form an intrinsic part of Lluc’s artistic universe. His commitment and co-leadership of the Barcelona Art Orchestra demonstrate this, as he has written over 10 pieces and arrangements for the ensemble. Lluc has also written more than 30 Big Band arrangements and many original compositions for small groups. Notably, he won the 2nd and 1st prizes at the Big Band Canarias Composition Contest in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Lluc plays a Backun Q Series clarinet and D'Addario reeds and accessories.