GRAMMY-NOMINATED PIANIST AND COMPOSER DONALD VEGA ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM PLAY IT FORWARD
THE JUILLIARD PROFESSOR, 2023 GUGGENHEIM FELLOW AND LONGTIME RON CARTER PIANIST HONORS THE MENTORS, ELDERS AND COMMUNITIES WHO CARRY JAZZ ACROSS GENERATIONS
FEATURING VEGA’S LATIN JAZZ SEXTET WITH SAXOPHONIST DAVID DEJESUS, TRUMPETER BRANDON LEE, BASSIST RAUL REYES, DRUMMER PETE VAN NOSTRAND & PERCUSSIONIST CARLY MALDONADO
OUT AUGUST 21, 2026 VIA IMAGERY RECORDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE SIDE DOOR
Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Donald Vega announces Play It Forward, his new album out August 21, 2026 on Imagery Records in association with The Side Door. Recorded at Power Station New England and produced by Donald Vega, Laura Vega and Ken Kitchings, Play It Forward features Vega’s Latin jazz sextet with percussionist Carly Maldonado, bassist Raul Reyes, drummer Pete Van Nostrand, trumpeter Brandon Lee, and saxophonist David DeJesus.
Composed and arranged entirely by Vega, Play It Forward was made possible by a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commission, supported by the Doris Duke Foundation. The album celebrates mentorship and the ways musicians share stories, traditions and wisdom across generations. Vega wrote the music in gratitude to the teachers, elders and advocates who shaped his life, carrying their lessons forward through his own compositions.
Vega performs internationally as pianist for world-renowned bassist Ron Carter, who has called him “the next piano voice” in jazz, and teaches at The Juilliard School, where his own studies included work with piano great Kenny Barron. 2023’s As I Travel received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album, and Vega was named a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow in composition.
Vega began classical piano studies in his native Nicaragua, where he grew up amid civil war and political violence. His mother emigrated to the United States first; Vega joined her in 1989, arriving in Los Angeles at 15 as an undocumented immigrant and later receiving political asylum. After an apartment fire destroyed his piano, he drew a keyboard on paper and practiced on it, hearing the music in his mind.
Music gave Vega a way to communicate before he spoke much English. His mother found him a musical sanctuary at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. At Crenshaw High School, Iris Stevenson helped him enter local youth talent competitions; at The World Stage, drummer Billy Higgins helped him learn the language of jazz. Francisco Aguabella, Al McKibbon and others also took him under their wing.
When an immigration law later threatened his ability to remain in the United States, members of the jazz community wrote letters on his behalf; Quincy Jones was among them, and a lawyer agreed to take his case pro bono. Vega has called those supporters “angels.”
“The power of mentorship goes beyond developing musically,” Vega says. “It gave me community, a sense of belonging, and wisdom so much needed in my youth.”
Vega’s albums have been building toward this moment for decades. 2008’s Tomorrows introduced a pianist with a lyrical touch, a firm rhythmic center and a deep connection to drummer Lewis Nash. On 2012’s Spiritual Nature, released by Resonance Records, Vega expanded his palette with bassist Christian McBride, Nash and a larger cast, with jazz, Latin and classical elements already moving through his writing.
2015’s With Respect to Monty paid tribute to pianist Monty Alexander and showed how naturally Vega could honor a master through his own point of view. 2023’s As I Travel, featuring John Patitucci, Nash and Luisito Quintero, traced Vega’s path from Nicaragua to Los Angeles to New York through original music.
Play It Forward turns from that personal path toward the people who helped him find his footing. Vega writes from melody outward; he wants listeners to hum and sing his tunes, and his goal is music that can be enjoyed across generations. Around those melodies, he builds with Afro-Cuban rhythm, montuno figures, batá-inflected percussion, jazz harmony and classical form.
Before entering Power Station New England, the sextet spent eight months performing and refining the music, a rare stretch of time that let the pieces settle on the bandstand before they reached the studio. Vega handpicked the group for musicality and camaraderie.
He went to school with Van Nostrand, Lee and DeJesus, and they have known and played with one another for two decades. Reyes, the bassist, was Vega’s student at Juilliard, bringing the generational thread into the band itself. Maldonado and Vega have known each other for years and have become closer collaborators around this music.
The titles tell part of the story. “Para Aguabella” honors Francisco Aguabella; “McKibbon’s Bugalú” salutes Al McKibbon; “Smilin’ Billy” evokes Billy Higgins; and the closing “A Hymn for Iris” brings Iris Stevenson into the album’s circle.
Two live favorites from the project are “McKibbon’s Bugalú” and “Para Aguabella.” On “McKibbon’s Bugalú,” Reyes plays a melodic bassline written by Vega, and Lee delivers one of the album’s standout trumpet solos. On “Para Aguabella,” listen for Vega’s solo and Maldonado’s use of congas and batá around it.
“Playing with friends is a gift,” Vega says. “They come to every gig and session eager to play the music well and understand the vision behind it. I’m grateful for their positivity, collaboration and joyful spirit — I know you’ll hear it come through in the album.”
Tracklisting:
- Para Aguabella
- La Flor y El Toro
- Into the Unknown
- Habla Conmigo
- McKibbon’s Bugalú
- Smilin’ Billy
- On Your Shoulders We Stand
- The Road to Happiness
- Play It Forward
- A Hymn for Iris