Luis Ceravolo playing the drums, smiling behind a ride cymbal

Buenos Aires · since 1961

LuisCeravolo

Drummer · Composer · Arranger · Producer

Twenty-two concerts at the Olympia in Paris with Astor Piazzolla’s Electronic Octet. Three years in Luis Alberto Spinetta’s band. Six decades behind the cymbals.

Upcoming dates Press material

Has played with

Astor PiazzollaLuis Alberto SpinettaJim Hall Arturo SandovalAriel RamírezLalo Schifrin Rubén RadaBaby López FürstSusana Rinaldi Manolo JuárezJorge NavarroGustavo Bergalli Alejandra MartinCristian ZárateRubén JuárezGino Vannelli

Dates

Upcoming shows

Biography

Sixty years of craft

Drummer, composer, arranger, producer and teacher. He has played with the leading figures of the jazz scene in clubs and theatres across Buenos Aires, New York, Barcelona, Madrid and Switzerland. House drummer for Argentina’s Canal 13 orchestra between 1978 and 1981, and a session player on dozens of popular-music records.

Every project he has been part of shares one thing: playing tango and Latin American folk music through the open language of jazz.

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Astor Piazzolla and his Electronic Octet outside the Olympia in Paris, under a marquee announcing Piazzolla, 1977. Luis Ceravolo is second from left.
Astor Piazzolla’s Electronic Octet outside the Olympia, Paris, 1977. Luis Ceravolo, second from left.

Timeline

01 / 17

  1. 1961

    At eleven he joins his father Héctor Ceravolo’s jazz quartet.

  2. The six members of S.O.S. peering over the rows of an empty wooden grandstand: Rubén Rada far left, Luis Ceravolo beside him.
    S.O.S. — Sonido Original del Sur. Rubén Rada, far left; Luis Ceravolo, second from left.

    1973

    Founds S.O.S. — Sonido Original del Sur, with Rubén Rada, Gustavo Bergalli and Fino Bingert.

  3. The Electronic Octet at the Olympia artists’ entrance, Paris, 1977, with Astor Piazzolla seated in the centre. Luis Ceravolo stands far right.
    At the Olympia artists’ entrance, with Piazzolla seated. Luis Ceravolo, far right.

    1977

    European tour with Astor Piazzolla’s Electronic Octet: Teatro dell’Opera in Milan, French and Geneva television, Brussels, and twenty-two concerts at the Olympia in Paris, from March 22 to April 10. Some of those nights became the album «Olympia Live 1977».

  4. Luis Alberto Spinetta’s band playing for Argentina’s national football team at its training camp in José C. Paz, 25 May 1978. From left: Spinetta on guitar, Luis Ceravolo at the drums, Bernardo Baraj on saxophone, Ricardo Sanz on bass and Eduardo Zvetelman on keyboards.Poster for «Los Espacios Amados»: Spinetta, Ceravolo, Zvetelman, Baraj and Sanz at Teatro Astral, Buenos Aires, Mondays 3, 10, 17 and 24 April, 9 pm
    Closing a concert for Argentina’s national football team at its training camp, Fundación Natalio Salvatori, José C. Paz, 25 May 1978 — a week before the World Cup opener against Hungary. From left: Luis Alberto Spinetta, guitar; Luis Ceravolo, drums; Bernardo Baraj, saxophone; Ricardo Sanz, bass; Eduardo Zvetelman, keyboards. Right: the same line-up in the poster for «Los Espacios Amados», Teatro Astral, April 1978.

    Dec 1977

    In December he joins Luis Alberto Spinetta’s band, playing theatres and stadiums across Argentina until 1980.

  5. La Banda in the recording studio around 1980, eight musicians behind the mixing desk
    La Banda in the studio. From left: David Lebón, Jorge Navarro, Luis Ceravolo, Juancho (drum technician), Rubén Rada, Beni Izaguirre, Bernardo Baraj and Ricardo Sanz. At the desk, Amilcar Gilabert.

    1980

    «La Banda», with Rubén Rada and Jorge Navarro. David Lebón and Daniel Homer play guitar as guests on the record. Their only album was reissued on vinyl in 2026 by Altercat, in Berlin.

  6. 1984

    Baby López Fürst Trio with Javier Malosetti, for eleven years.

  7. Lalo Schifrin, baton in hand, in front of his orchestra, with Luis Ceravolo at the drums
    Lalo Schifrin with trio and symphony orchestra, Hotel Sheraton, Buenos Aires, 1985. Photo: Tito Villalba.

    1985

    Lalo Schifrin introduces Ceravolo after his drum solo — trio and symphony orchestra, Hotel Sheraton, Buenos Aires.

  8. 1988

    In the United States: «Misa por la Paz y la Justicia» with Ariel Ramírez and the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, New York.

  9. 1991

    Tour of Japan with Folk Sin Límites, led by Oscar Cardozo Ocampo: Takasaki and Okaya University.

  10. Javier Malosetti with a double bass, Jim Hall holding his guitar, Luis Ceravolo and Baby López Fürst, standing together in front of a green stage curtain at Teatro La Plaza, Buenos Aires, 1992
    Teatro La Plaza, Buenos Aires, 1992. From left: Javier Malosetti, Jim Hall, Luis Ceravolo and Baby López Fürst. Photo: Tito Villalba.

    1992

    Two concerts with guitarist Jim Hall at Teatro La Plaza, Buenos Aires.

  11. 2005

    Lectures on fusing tango, folk and candombe with jazz at the International Jazz Seminar of Madrid, run by the Escuela de Música Creativa and Universidad Carlos III at its Colmenarejo campus.

  12. 2011

    Arturo Sandoval and his orchestra at Teatro Gran Rex, Buenos Aires.

  13. 2012

    Latin Grammy for Best Tango Album, on Arturo Sandoval’s record.

  14. 2016

    Forms A 18 Minutos with musicians who played and recorded alongside Spinetta.

  15. 2021

    «Odisea Invisible», his first album as a leader, with Luis Ceravolo 4.

  16. Luis Ceravolo 4 taking a bow on stage at the Kulturklub Wanderbühne Egnach, Switzerland, April 2023. Luis Ceravolo is third from left.A poster for Luis Ceravolo 4, «Odisea Invisible», standing in a field by the road in Arbon, Switzerland, April 2023
    On stage at the Kulturklub Wanderbühne Egnach, Switzerland, during the European tour, April 2023. From left: Cristian Zárate, Leonardo Teruggi, Luis Ceravolo and Nicolás Enrich. Right: the tour poster by the road in Arbon, Switzerland. Photo: Alfi Bissegger.

    2023

    Luis Ceravolo 4 tours Austria and Switzerland.

  17. 2024

    The quartet records «500 Motivaciones», a piece Astor Piazzolla played once — with the Electronic Octet at the Teatro Gran Rex on 16 December 1976 — and never recorded. Ceravolo, who joined that octet months later, brings it back as a nine-minute version arranged with Cristian Zárate. Released as a single, it became the title track of the quartet’s second album, out in April 2025.

Projects

Current line-ups

Photo · Luis Ceravolo 4
Luis Ceravolo 4 in front of a graffiti-covered door. From left: Juan Pablo Navarro, Nicolás Enrich, Luis Ceravolo and Cristian Zárate.

From left: Juan Pablo Navarro, Nicolás Enrich, Luis Ceravolo, Cristian Zárate · Photo: Laura Tenenbaum

Instrumental tango · Jazz

Luis Ceravolo 4

His own quartet, under his direction, with arrangements by Luis Ceravolo and Cristian Zárate. Piazzolla and other composers of tango, jazz and Latin American rhythms. Two albums on Acqua Records: «Odisea Invisible» (2021) and «500 Motivaciones» (2025).

Cristian Zárate · piano
Nicolás Enrich · bandoneon
Juan Pablo Navarro · double bass
Luis Ceravolo · drums

View albums
Photo · A 18 Minutos
A 18 Minutos against a white wall, from left: Álvaro Torres, Dhani Ferrón, Guille Arrom, César Franov and Luis Ceravolo.

From left: Álvaro Torres, Dhani Ferrón, Guille Arrom, César Franov, Luis Ceravolo · Photo: Sandra Calandrino

Rock · Jazz

A 18 Minutos

Founded in 2016 to play the music of Luis Alberto Spinetta, with musicians who performed and recorded alongside him.

Guille Arrom · guitar
César Franov · electric bass
Dhani Ferrón · vocals
Álvaro Torres · keyboards
Luis Ceravolo · drums

Watch video

Discography

Recordings

A selection. Underlined titles open the album on Spotify, YouTube or other platforms.

500 Motivaciones (2025) — open on Spotify

Odisea Invisible (2021) — open on Spotify

Tango: Como Yo Te Siento (2012), Arturo Sandoval — open on Spotify

La Banda (1980) — open on Spotify

Luis Ceravolo on Spotify

Press

Material for promoters

Everything hosted on the site itself, not on external services. Direct download, no sign-up.

Selected press

Videos

Watch

Astor Piazzolla playing the bandoneon with his Electronic Octet in the 1977 television broadcast of Zita Astor Piazzolla’s Electronic Octet · Zita, 1977
Luis Ceravolo at the drums in the studio, beside a close-up of hands on the piano, in the Libertango video Luis Ceravolo 4 · Libertango
Luis Ceravolo at the drums in the studio, reading from a tablet, in the 500 Motivaciones video Luis Ceravolo 4 · 500 Motivaciones
Nahuel Pennisi singing at a studio microphone with A 18 Minutos in the video of Spinetta’s Canción para los días de la vida A 18 Minutos with Nahuel Pennisi · Canción para los días de la vida

Luis Ceravolo 4

A 18 Minutos

More videos on YouTube

Lessons

Study drums

One-to-one lessons, in person in Buenos Aires. No fixed levels: the plan is built around what each student needs to solve.

He studied drums with Alberto Alcalá, and piano and harmony with Santiago Giacobbe, Guillermo Iscla, Diego Rappoport and Juan Carlos Cirigliano. He has taught on the fusion of tango, folk and candombe with jazz at the International Jazz Seminar of Madrid and in workshops at the Kunstuniversität Graz, Austria.

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Luis Ceravolo at the drums, reading a chart on the music stand

Language

Tango, folk and candombe through jazz

The thread running through his whole career, brought to the kit: how to accompany these genres without betraying the pulse or the phrasing.

Craft

Playing with others

Reading, rehearsal dynamics, session work and everything the method books leave out but that decides whether you get called again.

Contact

Get in touch