Yamile Burich

Yamile Burich is a saxophonist and composer. Her musical studies began with the piano when she was five. Her involvement with jazz started after listening to Charlie Parker, sparking her interest in the genre and leading her to study the saxophone at the Escuela Superior de Música of the Province of Salta, her place of origin. Later she would travel to and live in Buenos Aires, until her departure to Havana, Cuba, where she attended the Instituto Superior de Arte and took part in various Salsa and Latin Jazz groups over a period of two years. She subsequently won a scholarship to Berklee in the United States, but decided to establish herself in London and attend the Jazz program at Goldsmiths College. She travelled to New York and New Orleans on several occasions in her efforts to perfect her learning of Jazz.

When she returned to Argentina in 2007 she created the Yamile Burich Quartet, recording the albums She’s the Boss in 2009 and Black Jack in 2014. That same year she created the all-girl Yamile Burich & Jazz Ladies Quintet, where she is able to fuse the language of jazz with an assortment of Latin-American rhythms. Her recordings with this female quintet include Ahora! (2015) and Random (2016). She is currently presenting her latest albums: Live at Thelonious Club recorded live at the club and Alegría recorded in a studio, both with the Female Quintet.

She is currently performing at jazz and other musical festivals in Argentina and abroad. In 2019 Yamile was selected to play with her Band at Jazz Al Parque, in Bogota (Colombia). She also performed in prestigious Festivals in Brazil and Argentina. In 2020 she was select to play Music of Piazzolla for La fundación Astor Piazzolla, at Konex (Buenos Aires).

Her latest Albun Alegría was nominated “Best Jazz Album” in Premios Gardel 2020. She played with Proyecto Electronico Piazzolla at the Colon Opera House in March 2021. Launches Bardo, this album consisting solely of the artist’s own compositions, recorded at Ion with her new Quintet in May 2021. In 2022, her latest album Bardo was also nominated for the Gardel Awards as “Best Jazz Album.” In 2023 she released his album called Agosto with compositions of her own. She is currently presenting her new album, with instrumental versions of the music of María Elena Wash, one of her greatest influences in Argentinian music.

Photo credit: Agustina Rios