MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

Javier Diaz is a percussionist in the New York Area. He has performed with the American Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Broadway’s productions of Tarzan, Guys and Dolls, The Wiz, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Rocky, Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet, Once on This Island, and the acclaimed Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations. His studio/film soundtrack credits include Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, collaborations with jazz greats David Sanborn and Marcus Miller, ECM’s Tituli by Stephen Hartke with the Hilliard Ensemble, Barbershop 3, several HBO films and many TV and radio commercials.

As an Afro-Cuban percussion specialist, Diaz has appeared with: Miami Sound Machine, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Sean Kingston, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Patty LaBelle, Lazaro Galarraga’s Afro-Cuban All Stars, percussionists Angel Luis Figueroa, Candido Camero, David Yazbek, Román Diaz and Pedro Martinez, The Panamerican Jazz Band, Tribal Sage and the New York World Music Institute. In addition, Mr. Diaz has recently released an album with the percussion group Kalunga. He is on faculty at Rutgers University, New York University, and the Juilliard School.