Gregorio Uribe

Gregorio Uribe is a Latin Grammy–nominated singer-songwriter and accordionist who presents his music with the same passion and tenacity at Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden as he does on the streets of Tierra del Fuego or the patios of Montes de María in his native Colombia. He has also collaborated and shared the stage with stars in various musical genres, such as Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, Paquito D’Rivera, and masters of ancestral Colombian music Martina Camargo and Diego Obregón. He most recently released his third album, Hombre Absurdo, in early 2023 for which he received his first Latin Grammy nomination. On a conceptual level, this album adds flavor, dance, joy, and rhythm to literature and mythological references, elements which are very present in Uribe himself. It is inspired by the musical stylings of minstrels from the countryside of the Colombian Caribbean and the lyrics are a reflection of books by great existentialist authors, Greek myths, and reflections on post-modernism. Accompanied by a strong presence of the accordion and powerful Colombian grooves from the Caribbean with the distinctive vigorous sounds of percussion, this album is a remarkable musical creation in which Uribe lets his musical influences flow, as well as his instinct and experience as a singer-songwriter and orchestrator. This unique production, which he considers a type of existential cumbia, was also recently presented in one of NPR's iconic Tiny Desk Concerts.

Prior to Hombre Absurdo, the Berklee College of Music alumnus had released two lauded productions. His first album as a singer-songwriter, entitled Pluma y Vino, included colorful styles like the bolero, the rumba, the waltz, and the marimba guapireña, among other musical rhythms. His second release was the big band extravaganza Cumbia Universal, featuring Latin icon Rubén Blades, in which he fused rhythms of the Colombian Caribbean, such as cumbia, chandé, and porro with big band jazz arrangements. This unique production achieved a global sound by including guest artists from Senegal, Israel, Portugal, and Argentina. In addition to hitting the Billboard charts and reaching widespread critical acclaim, this work led Gregorio Uribe and his Big Band to perform sold out concerts in venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Teatro Colón in Bogotá, Colombia, and Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in Boston, among others. The multifaceted Colombian artist soon released several singles, including “Salomé,” a collaboration with the all-female Cuban group Canela de Cuba, where he combined his accordion with guaguancó and timba of the Antillean Island.

Additionally, Uribe has embarked on a side project with Argentine singer-songwriter Solange Prat in a venture they have named Sempiterno, a musical collaboration where both artists come together to create and perform co-written songs that tell stories shared and experienced by both.
 
Uribe participated as a guest artist on the Latin Grammy–winning album Marc Anthony for Babies, on the New York Times best seller album Home: Where Everyone is Welcome, by Deepak Chopra, and has performed alongside innovative and Latin Grammy–winning artists like Monsieur Periné, Jorge Villamizar (of Bacilos), Mariachi Flor de Toloache, and the renown Venezuelan cuatro player Jorge Glem. As a result of his international acclaim, Uribe has been named by the Colombian government as one of the 100 Most Successful Colombians Abroad. This talented artist has also shown his passion for music by being innovative in the field of music tourism with his project Sounds of Colombia, an initiative in collaboration with Impulse Travel, in which international travelers get to know Colombia through its traditional music and local music experts. Uribe continues promoting Hombre Absurdo internationally while creating new music that highlights his songwriting, and explores different sounds and collaborations.