Media & Booking Materials
Bios, hi-res photography, video, past venues, and a downloadable press kit.
Luis Giraldo is a bilingual jazz vocalist and pianist whose repertoire — Great American Songbook, Bossa Nova, modern swing — has carried velvet phrasing across cruise lines, festivals, and concert stages worldwide. Thirty-five years on stages. Vancouver-based, performing in English and Spanish. Four studio albums, with the most recent two recorded at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio for Cellar Music.
Luis Giraldo is a bilingual jazz vocalist and pianist based in Vancouver, performing in English and Spanish on cruise lines, festival stages, and concert halls across the Americas.
Born in Montreal and raised in Bogotá, Luis came to jazz through a route few singers can claim. A Colombian high-school rock band in 1991. The Colombian presidential marching band. A Sony Music rock band, Poligamia, that toured Latin America in the late 90s. A stint as keyboardist and backing vocalist for Shakira, with 40+ shows across North, Central, and South America. The cruise ship rooms where he later played nightly jazz standards drew the line in the sand — and the conversion was complete.
Since 2002, Luis has released four studio albums as a vocal jazz artist. The most recent two — Ready, Willing & Able (2023) and I’m Old Fashioned (2024) — were co-produced with Cory Weeds at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ — the same room where John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk recorded — with New York sidemen including Ben Paterson, Chris Flory, Ed Cherry, Neal Miner, and Jason Tiemann.
His repertoire pairs the Great American Songbook and modern swing with Bossa Nova and Latin standards, drawing on his Colombian roots to land equally in English-speaking and Spanish-speaking rooms. He has performed on Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, and Disney cruise lines, and continues to lead his own band in the Greater Vancouver area. Thirty-five years on stages and counting. Available for festivals, cruise lines, awards shows, corporate engagements, and private events worldwide.
Available upon request — tech rider varies by venue and engagement type.
Signature Programmes
Programme i.
A full-evening concert, sequenced and arranged. Solo piano-vocal at the low end, full big band at the top, with trio, quartet, and quintet configurations in between. Great American Songbook standards, golden-age pop, swing-era favourites, Bossa Nova, romantic ballads, and bilingual repertoire in English and Spanish.
Programme ii.
An adults-only sensory experience pairing premium spirits with intimate piano arrangements. Luis is both jazz expert and bourbon enthusiast, discussing aging, flavor profiles, and the unexpected parallels between distillation and phrasing while performing live at the piano. Not background music with drinks — an educational, ticketed experience that commands premium pricing.
Programme iii.
The most exclusive offering. Luis hosts a specialty-dining experience for true jazz enthusiasts, functioning as conversational expert and cultural ambassador. Stories from a career touring with Shakira, recording at Van Gelder Studio, and performing alongside the calibre of musicians on the records. Discussion of Jobim’s influence on modern jazz, the evolution from swing to contemporary, and the artistry behind the records guests already love.
Programme iv.
The headliner stepping into intimate space. Luis joins your house band for an evening in a lounge or specialty venue, bringing improvisational depth, an extensive repertoire, and the kind of musicianship that elevates the players around him. The “you had to be there” moment passengers retell for the rest of the voyage.
Why Luis
Van Gelder Studio sessions and a touring history with Shakira sit beside a repertoire that lands across generations and languages. The credentials translate to filled rooms, not just press notes.
The Jazz & Bourbon and Aficionado’s Dinner programmes turn entertainment slots into enrichment offerings — ticketed, premium, and worth marketing on their own.
Four programme formats and a deep chart library mean Luis stays fresh across 7+ day voyages. Main stage, intimate guest set, ticketed tasting, host dinner — no setlist repeats, no novelty fatigue.
Direct collaboration with entertainment directors. Engraved, sight-readable charts. Clear contracts. Bookings should add value to your production schedule, not friction.
Configurations
Professionally engraved charts. Clearly marked. Sight-readable. Whether self-contained or in full collaboration with your house band, every configuration is rehearsal-ready on arrival.
Repertoire
Set lists are tailored to the route, the room, and the audience. Bilingual transitions feel natural, never forced.
Ideal Sailing & Engagement Profiles
Technical & Operations