About

PH: Helmut Lunghammer

Martín Iaies – Jazz Guitarist, Composer & Educator
 

Martín Iaies is an Argentinian jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and educator currently based in Vienna, Austria. With a musical language rooted in jazz tradition but always exploring new forms, he’s part of a generation of emerging jazz artists pushing the boundaries of the genre — blending contemporary jazz, Latin American influences, and modern ensemble writing.
 

Born into a family of musicians, Martín started playing piano at age 4, guided by his grandmother and his father, Adrián Iaies — a respected jazz pianist and composer. As a teenager, driven by his love for rock, he picked up the guitar and soon realized that music was more than a passion — it was his path.
 

Over the years, he has studied with renowned teachers in Argentina, Austria, and New York, and has collaborated with a wide range of inspiring and influential musicians. These experiences shaped his voice as a guitarist and composer, both in small formats and in large jazz ensembles.
 

In 2022 he recorded his second album, New Beginnings — released in October 2023 by the US-based label Ears & Eyes Records — an album that showcases his work as a jazz composer and bandleader. That same year, he founded the Martín Iaies 11tet, a modern jazz large ensemble that explores expansive textures, rhythmic experimentation, and ensemble-driven improvisation. Their debut album was recorded in February 2025 and will be released in 2026.
 

Currently, Martín divides his time between composing for large ensembles, performing across Europe and Latin America, recording new projects, and teaching jazz guitar, composition, and ensemble work. Whether leading his own projects or producing for others, his focus remains clear: to keep exploring the edges of sound through jazz.

“Iaies has acquired a warm and personal tone in the guitar - a tone that suits both the ballads and the songs with more temperament in them. The four young men dress each other and the music tells that Martín Iaies is a musician with an exciting career ahead of him for many decades” 
Tor Hammero - Nettavisen (NO)

"Iaies also pays attention to emotional breaks that slow things down and create a really comfortable feeling and atmosphere, condensing the album into a little delicacy that will not only appeal to fans of mainstream jazz in the classic style, but also to all those who simply find well-made musicianship a real joy and a lot of pleasure"
Gregor Poschorek - Soultrain (DE)

“Iaies also wrote all eight tunes, which have character, and which together span straight-ahead and more experimental jazz along with the Argentine and Brazilian forms.”
Chris May - All About Jazz (UK)

“Iaies manages to develop a personal and distinctive language that, based on the history of style, does not prevent him from incorporating elements that point towards the future (...). It highlights the strength and cohesion of the quartet and the versatility of Iaies both instrumentally and in its role as leader ”
Marcelo Morales - El Intruso (ARG)

“The Argentine guitarist Martin Iaies makes a promising debut on disc. Compositions of his own demonstrate their mastery of classical jazz language”
Carlos Calado (BRA)

STUDIES

  • Master in Arts - Jazz Guitar - Kunstuniversität Graz (Austria). Finished in 2022.
  • Master in Arts - Jazz composition and arrangement - Kunstuniversität Graz (Austria). Finished in 2025.
  • Bachelor in Folk Music - Jazz Guitar - Escuela de Música Popular de Avellaneda (Argentina). Finished in 2015.
  • Bachelor in Folk Music - Jazz Guitar - Conservatorio Superior Manuel de Falla (Argentina). Not finished.

 

  • Guitar lessons in Buenos Aires (ARG) with Armando Alonso, Javier Cohen, Marcelo Gutfraind, Juan Pablo Arredondo, Sergio Alvarez, Marcelo Kitay, Leo Álvarez and Darío Tepman, in Graz (AUT) with Guido Jeszenszky and in New York City (USA) with Peter Bernstein, Gilad Hekselman, Peter Mazza, Jack Wilkins and Rory Stuart.
  • Improvisation lessons in Buenos Aires with Ernesto Jodos, Mariano Loiácono and Juan Cruz de Urquiza, in Graz with Renato Chicco and in New York with Ralph Alessi and Gary Smulyan.
  • Ensembles in Buenos Aires with Ernesto Jodos, Eloy Michelini, Marcelo Gutfraind, Ariel Goldemberg, Pablo Raposo, Carlos Lastra and Mariano Loiácono and in Graz with Heinrich von Kalnein, Renato Chicco and Luis Bonilla.
  • Classical Harmony, Counterpoint and Composition with Daniel Montes.
  • Piano with Susana Kasakoff and Betty Grinjot.
  • Composition and arrangement with Ed Partyka and Johannes Berauer.

 

  • Workshops and masterclass with Barry Harris, John Stowell, Ben Goldberg, Kiko Ruiz, Yotam Silberstein, Jonathan Kreisberg, Lage Lund, Ben Monder, Sylvain Luc, Marc Ducret, David Gilmore, among many others.